The Midnight Two: Return (V3)
by Sapphireloid
Summary: Our luck is about to change for the better, or so Karma Lee thought. With The Preeminent at the bottom of Hollows Trench and Morro dead, she belived good luck was going to come her way. But when an old enemy returns with vile plans and someone on the team is not what they seem, Karma finds herself caught in chaos yet again. Will the team stop this old enemy? Or is this their end?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Quick little announcement that the characters Cass and Sammie belong to TheRealWindElemental and Hunter & Nathan belong to HSBB2 . Their ocs are the only ones being added to the story (mainly because I've known these two majestic eagles for a long time.). I also recommend that you read their fics! Alright...let's get this show on the road! **

I hummed a tune that had been stuck in my head for weeks as I hung up pictures on the new corkboard in my room. I had bought it with the money I had earned working at Steep Wisdom, just so I could hang up the snapshots of my friends I had taken not so long ago.

Once I had pinned the last picture to the board, I stepped back, looking at all the pictures and letting the memories flow back into my mind. The time with Lloyd at Mega Monster Amusement Park, the team going on a beach trip, Jay's birthday, the time with Nya and Lilly at a recent concert, and just the random pictures of us goofing off. I smiled at these memories, wishing those moments would have lasted forever. Though they would within my thoughts.

A lot has happened this past month, or a lot in my opinion that is. Lloyd began his training to become a Sensei, Lilly and Kai got together (freakin' finally...seriously they've been on and off forever.), I finally got to meet the Ninjas' friend Dareth (he's pretty dorky, but cool.), and Nya has started to master her powers (I'm really proud of her!). Things had finally taken a positive turn for us all, and I hoped it stayed that way.

As I was looking at the pictures, Lilly entered the room, groaning. She flopped onto her bed, now yawning. I turned to face her, having an idea of what may have happened.

"Lemme guess, you got bribed into doing the chores again?" I questioned.

"Hey, Jay actually offered me something good this time! You know there's no way I can turn down this!" Lilly sat up, holding a quart of mint ice cream. Of course, her love of the frozen treat would drive her to do anything just for a bite of it. She would probably even throw off a mission for it.

"Did he actually find your favorite flavor?" I asked. She shook her head.

"No. You know what would happen if someone did. My favorite flavor is pretty hard to find though," Lilly reminded me, pulling a spoon from her drawer and digging in to the ice cream. I didn't question why that spoon was in her drawer.

"So, did you know the new guys are here?" Lilly questioned. New guys? I wasn't informed that anyone new would be arriving.

"What 'new guys'?" I asked, confused.

"Sensei didn't tell you about the new members of the team?" The blonde asked in surprise. I shook my head in response. Sensei hasn't told me anything for a while, other than the orders he gives while running the tea shop and help during training I hadn't heard anything about new teammates.

"Well, evidently they're other elemental masters that Cole knew. They actually lived in the village nearby Sensei Garmadon's Monastery," Lilly informed me. Other elemental masters? I wonder what their powers are. Color? Weather? Thunder? Magic? Any one of these could be their element. Or maybe they are people I may have seen before. It could be a possibility, considering I looked at almost everyone in that village. I exited the room, feeling excitement as I walked down the hallway. I can't wait to meet these new teammates!

Once I entered the living room, I spotted four new people talking to the Ninja. They wore casual clothes instead of gi, and I recognized three of them right off the bat. One was a girl with long, wavy brown hair and dark green eyes. She looked to be only a slight bit smaller than the two boys standing next to her. I recognized her from the day Lloyd was possessed. She was the girl in the tea shop who was asking about cake. I really didn't expect her to be one of the new people, as well as the other two. Looks like Cole's going to have competition for the last piece of Jay's birthday cake now.

The second person I recognized was a boy with shaggy, light brown hair and light blue eyes. He looked to be about the same height as Cole, if not taller. He was starlight kick boy, from the day Lloyd and I went into the village to get Sensei's tea. The boy who also mistook me for a kid! I'll have to make sure to trip him at some point, and then call him a kid! We'll see how he likes it!

The last person I recognized was a boy with hair almost similar to Zane's, though it was a very light brown. His eyes were the same color of blue as Starlight Kick Boy. He was Seal of Approval Boy from the same day we saw Starlight Kick boy. He was the one demanding candy in the tea shop on the day of Lloyd's possession, and was also threatening to fight my blond friend.

The fourth person I did not recognize. She had blonde hair the color of gold, and brown eyes like mine. Her skin was a tan color similar to how Cole's used to look, and she looked to be the shortest out of the new people. She was fretting over Cole, possibly because he was a ghost. I couldn't tell if they were related or in a relationship. I felt it was more likely that they were related, considering how similar their faces were.

"Hey, since I'm here now, could I get some of that 'extra' candy? You guys didn't give me any last time," Seal of Approval Boy asked. Cole shook his head and smiled.

"Sorry Hunter, but you'll have to fight Lloyd for the extra candy," the ghostly ninja chuckled. Hunter frowned.

"Alright Nathan, how much are you going to pay me to fight the blond guy?" he asked the boy beside him. Nathan, aka Starlight Kick boy, started to dig into his pocket when Cole cleared his throat.

"Um, before you do any of that, why don't you four introduce yourselves to the girls?" he suggested, gesturing to Lilly and I. The four new team members took notice of us immediately, a little surprised we were there. They must not have seen us. The cake girl stepped up firs, brushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm Cass, master of wind," she introduced herself with a smile. I nearly fainted. Master of wind!? Wouldn't that me she's related to-!?

"You're related to Morro?" Lilly asked in disbelief. Cass nodded.

"Yeah, he's my uncle. I heard about what happened, and honestly I'm not happy with what he did," she informed us. So, we have Morro's niece on our team? Looks like I'm not the only one with a creepy uncle now. We could start a club called "My Uncle is a Total Dingus and Should Live On a Deserted Island". We probably wouldn't have a lot of members though.

Hunter stepped up next, introducing himself and saying his element, which was wind as well. I was starting to collapse. How many people in here are related to old Joe windy pants!?

"So you're related to Cass and Morro?" I asked. He nodded, then scratched his head.

"I believe I'm her cousin twice removed...I don't know...the family tree is kind of whack," he informed us. Great, that probably means he's related to multiple elemental masters most likely.

Nathan stepped up next. "I'm Nathan, Hunter's brother and master of water."

I collapsed right then and there. There was no way!

"You two related to Kai, Nya, Cass, and Morro then!" I exclaimed, pointing at the two boys. Lilly whistled.

"Geez, the elemental masters got busyyy."

"If I'm related to Morro, then that means I'm the one who got his hot voice gene," I heard Kai say pridefully. Nya snorted.

"Nah, I believe you got his ego and his belief that he should be the chosen one," she retorted. Kai turned and glared at his sister while some of the people in the room laughed. I couldn't help but laugh too. She wasn't wrong.

I got up just as the blonde girl came to introduce herself. "I'm Sammie, Cole's younger sister and master of light," she said in a polite voice, shaking my hand.

"Cole, you never told us you had a sister!" Jay exclaimed. Cole shrugged.

"Well, it didn't really fit into any of the conversations we had, and I have to admit I would forget sometimes," he confessed, scratching his head.

Sammie giggled. "You idiot, how could you forget about your own sister?"

Well, I started to feel even happier with a few more girls on the team. Now I have a few more people of the same gender to hang out with! And they seem pretty cool too! Not like there was anything wrong with hanging out with the boys. I just felt this place needed a little more girl power ya know? Though, with an addition of two other guys, this place was beginning to look similar to the Justice League, only with superpowered ninja.

Both Lilly and I went ahead and introduced ourselves to our new teammates. Lilly made sure to explain the story about the crystal before any of them jumped to the conclusion that she's related to Hunter and Nathan or Kai and Nya, just to avoid the awkwardness. They all seemed to be pretty cool with it. Though, Nathan seemed to be slightly confused on the process of how she got it.

As we started to break apart to speak to each other individually, I sat down in one of the chairs, smiling at the new additions. I slowly got up, heading to talk to one of the new girls, but before I could, Lloyd stepped in front of me, holding something behind his back.

"Okay, I almost forgot... I meant to give this to you earlier." he held out the thing he was holding behind his back, a new metal bo staff, shining beautifully like chrome. He's giving this to me!?

"You didn't have to..." my quiet voice trailed off, marveling at the wonderful weapon. Why do something like this for a dork like me?

"Hey, after I heard you lost your old staff, I wanted to be nice and get you a new one. I thought you'd like the gift," the blond smiled. I took it from his hands, looking over it with awe. Joy filled up inside me. He didn't have to do this! But he did! But still, why did he do this!?

"Oh my god, Lloyd, I could kiss you!" the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. When I realized what I had said, my cheeks started to burn with embarrassment, especially since the whole room was silent now. I'm so dead now.

"Ohohoho!" I heard Jay chuckle. Hunter, who was nearby, whispered "Do it! Just do it!"

Lloyd, who wasn't blushing at all from the comment, smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

I nodded nervously. "Y-Yes, thank you." Oh god, why!?

There was a period of awkward silence between us, making my cheeks grow even warmer. Though, during that time, I could see a bit of pink growing on the blond's cheeks.

"U-Um...I should go put this away in my room," I said nervously, breaking the silence. Lloyd nodded.

"Right. I'll...uh...see you later at training then," he waved as I walked away. Once I was out of view, I darted into my room, flopped onto my bed, and screamed into my pillow. _Why did I do that!?_ Why did I say that!? I don't see him in that way...do I!?

I heard the door to the room open, accompanied by the sound of Lilly giggling.

"I knew it! I just knew it!" she exclaimed. I groaned.

"Lilly, you know I don't see him in that way," I said to her, removing my face from the pillow. Her giggling didn't cease.

"I know, you got caught up in the moment and such. It's alright. I just thought it was pretty funny," she said.

"Everyone's going to tease me now," I whined. Lilly crossed her arms.

"Most likely, but you know your saying, 'What goes around comes around'. You did tease me a lot before Kai and I got together so..." she reminded me, shrugging. I groaned again. I guess you could say karma was kicking my behind again...er I was. I figured that it was best to just try to forget that it happened and act like I didn't blurt that out. Yeah, perfect plan.

I got up and smoothed my skirt, brushing away the memory of what happened earlier as well. I made a decision on what to do to keep my mind off it immediately.

"I think I'm gonna go visit my parents. It's been a few months since I last saw them anyway," I told Lilly as I walked out of the room. She waved goodbye to me in response as she cracked open a book. I walked to the door, taking my purse from the coat hanger by it. I decided to not carry my new staff along, as it would take up a lot of space in this purse and besides, what would I need it for!? I don't need a weapon for a visit to my parents.

I walked out the door and through the tea shop, where Lloyd was standing at the counter, looking at something on the opposite wall. Crap, the memory's gonna flow back and things are gonna be awkward again! I hurried to walk quickly to the door, but I was stopped before I could.

"Hey Karma! Going to the city?" Lloyd asked. I turned slowly and nodded.

"Could I come with you? I'm kinda bored here. I don't think Zane would mind taking over my shift," he said. I paused. I had two options. Either things would get awkward again, or Lloyd remains bored. I did say I wanted to make him happy, in order to get rid of the horrible memories from what Morro did, but would this affect it at all?

I decided to not test it. "Uh sure. I'm just going to see my parents though."

"I don't mind. Your mom's pretty nice, though, and your dad reminds me of this guy I saw on a TV show Jay was watching once though," Lloyd said, hopping over the counter to join me.

"A TV show?" I questioned as we walked out the door.

"Yeah, his hairstyle sort of remind me of the character. Does your dad also happen to have a thing for cleaning?" Lloyd asked. I stopped to think for a minute. He always did like to clean the tables...a lot.

"Sort of...yeah," I answered as I summoned my dragon.

"Another similarity!" Lloyd exclaimed, "I bet he and your dad are the same person."

I chuckled. "Maybe."

When I entered my family's restaurant, I was slightly surprised to find that no one but my parents were inside. Must be a slow business day. My father looked up from a table he was cleaning once both Lloyd and I entered. I noticed that the stubble growing around his mouth had grown darker, and dark circles have started to appear under his eyes. My father straightened himself up, and the scowl he wore most of the time turned into a smile.

"Seiko! You're back! And you brought Garmadon's kid too!" he said, pulling me into a hug. I was happy to see my dad's softer side again, instead of the scowling restaurant owner I've always known. He was probably only showing off his smile because Lloyd is here. My mother walked into the dining room, and a smile grew immediately on her face. She joined in the hug, making it a group hug as Lloyd just stood idly by. When they all let go, my mother took notice of Lloyd.

"It's good to see you as well! I'm sorry about what happened to your father. Seiko told me about everything that happened," she said, giving a sympathetic look to the blond.

"Yeah, it wasn't a great time, but everything's okay now," Lloyd smiled. My mother patted him on the shoulder.

"You're a strong young man, Lloyd. Your father would be proud," she smiled. The Green Ninja continued to smile as I handed my mother her chestplate that I retrieved from Ronin. She was overjoyed at its return, hugging the metal piece. Though, she had no idea how she lost it in the first place.

"Why don't you two have a seat while I go return this to where it belongs upstairs?" my mother suggested. Before she walked away, she turned around. "Oh yeah, Seiko? Do mind taking out the garbage for me?"

I groaned. "Mom, I didn't come here to do chores."

"This is the only thing I'll ask of you while you're here. I promise," my mother said. I finally complied and went to take it out, not wanting to look bad in front of Lloyd. I went out the back door of the shop into the alleyway between our building and the one next door. From there, I couldn't see the street, and didn't understand why we had our dumpster in the back...but we did anyway.

I heaved the sack of trash into the dumpster, dusting my hands off once I was finished. I started to make my way back to the door, but I stopped when I heard a trash can knock over. I turned to see that the neighboring building's trash can was indeed knocked over, but it was empty. A cat must have knocked it over. Most likely Okami, the resident stray cat of this alleyway. I have no idea why it's named Okami either, as Okami translates to "wolf".

"Okami," I giggled, "Are you playing with the trash cans again?"

I kneeled down and picked up the trash can, placing it neatly by the building. I continued to call for Okami, getting no signs other than that. I started to walk away again, but then I heard rustling from behind the other trash cans. I started to approach them.

"Okami?" I said, trying to look over the trash cans. Before I could, I was tackled to the ground, a hand placed over my mouth, and two blades placed at my throat. The figure that tackled me was hooded, though, his long, fiery orange hair hung from his hood and I could see that he had dark blue eyes.

"Why hello pink ninja. Out for a stroll in the alleyway?" I could recognize that voice from anywhere. The master of Psion, Alex. What the hell does he want!? And why does it concern me!? How did he even know where I live!?

"Boy, do we have a lot of catching up to do."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Honestly, screw technology. I have to rewrite this part because when copy and pasting it to , I lost the document and both the Wattpad and FFN documents changed to chapter 1. *weeps* Oh well, gives me a chance to make this chapter even better~**

I struggled to move my arms and legs, but Alex quickly pinned them down.

"Tsk, you really think I'm going to let you go so easily? We haven't even caught up yet," he said, smiling. As if he wasn't creepy enough.

"So, while you and your pesky friends have been destroying Stiix, I've been doing much more productive things to save this city," he claimed. I wanted to laugh. "To save the city!?" Does he think hiding like a coward will save the city!?

"Hah, like what? Sitting and staring at the news all day? Oh! Wait! Let me guess! You actually went outside for once!?" I exclaimed, since his hand no longer covered my mouth. He made a look like he was about to slap me, but he didn't. Instead, he leaned a bit closer, the look remaining on his face.

"You'll see in time, but until then, you will continue to be blind. When you finally see it though, you will know who's side to be on," he claimed in a quiet voice. I laughed.

"Yeah, the same side I'm on now!" I shouted. Alex sighed, as if he were exhausted.

"There is a wolf amongst the sheep," he spoke, making absolutely no sense to me. Okay, I was starting to get annoyed with this guy. In an effort to free myself and get him off of me, I used the Dark Arts, blasting him off of me. I quickly got up and retrieved a trash can lid, ready to use it as a shield in case he decided to attack. I didn't really like the idea of fighting in a skirt without trousers underneath, but I didn't have much of a choice. I either attempt to run while he's armed with blades, or I fight back. I was going to take the second option, not wanting to run just yet. Besides, turning my back to him could end deadly. Ugh, I really should have stuffed my new staff into my purse. If only I had future vision like Xavier.

I watched as Alex ran towards me, another set of double blades popping out from under his other sleeve. I held up the trash can lid like a shield, hiding my face from the view. I felt the blades hit the lid, vibrations moving throughout it. I had to admit, I flinched when they hit the lid. I moved quickly to block Alex's next attack, trying to keep up with the pace of them so I didn't become sushi. I started to notice that his various slashes were leaving deep cuts in the lid, not a good sign.

Seeing where his next attack was pointed, I let go of the lid as his arm flew towards me. The blades impaled the lid, leaving it stuck on them. His eyes locked on me, he moved the arm with trash lid blades to the side, shaking them. When the lid failed to slide off his blades, Alex cursed under his breath, now focused on getting the lid off his blades. He tried to push the lid off with his other blades, but they ended up getting stuck in it as well, causing him to curse even more. I tried not to laugh at the scene in front of me, showing how much of an idiot Alex is.

Seeing that he was distracted, I decided that now was my time to attack. I started to charge up my powers, but before I could attack, the butt of a broomstick connected with the side of Alex's face, causing him to stumble into some trash cans, his blades sliding back into his sleeves and the lid falling on the ground. I looked to see that the one holding the broom was my father. An angered look was on his face, and his scowl was now much more severe. He threw the broom aside, his eyes on Alex.

The boy looked up, rubbing his head. He snickered at the sight of my father. "Oh wow gramps! You're not gonna hit me on the head with your cane!?"

My father cracked his knuckles, his eyes still locked on Alex. Then, he leaned his head to one side, a popping sound coming from his neck. The same way Morro was popping Lloyd's neck a month ago. The universal sign that crud was about to go down.

"Well, aren't you going to try to hit me?" Alex questioned my father. He didn't answer. He just continued to stare daggers at Alex. He didn't move an inch either.

Alex huffed. "Alright gramps, guess you're too scared to go first. Don't worry, I'll end this quickly for ya."

Both sets of blades popped out from under Alex's sleeves. He ran towards my father and swung both of his arms, only to have them caught by both of my father's hands. My father crushed the mechanisms under Alex's sleeves that were allowing his weapon to function, causing the blades to pop off and tumble to the ground. Alex looked down at his blades, then back up, giving an "oh shit" look.

My father flipped Alex behind him, then spun around and landed a punch on the boy's face. My father began to punch him in various places faster than I have seen anyone do. He even blocked most of the punches Alex threw at him! Finally, to end it off, my father knocked him onto the ground with a spin kick to the face, then stared at him.

My father began to speak to him in Japanese with a menacing voice. The things my father said were pretty explicit, but to sum it up in a non-explicit way, he basically said "If you return to this place, I will rip your legs off and feed them to you." Quite a nice guy, huh? I doubted that Alex could understand what he was saying but it looked like he got the message loud and clear through my father's tone of voice. His eyes were wide and his face was still frozen in shock.

Once my father was done speaking, he picked up Alex and threw him into the trash cans. The boy groaned when his back connected to the cans. It must have been pretty painful.

My father stepped toward him, still wearing his angered expression. Before he could get any closer, Alex clasped his hands together in a hurry, disappearing instantly. I had to admit, I had forgotten that he could teleport. Though, if he is the master of Psion, wouldn't that mean he can do other things connected with telekenesis and psionics? Meaning he could have done more to stop my father? I don't know.

Seeing that Alex was gone, my father walked around me, inspecting me to make sure I was okay.

"Did he do anything to you?" my father questioned. I shook my head. All he really did was creep me out and speak nonsense, nothing else. Though, the last thing he said to me stuck out in my mind. "There is a wolf amongst the sheep." What exactly does that mean? Is it even relevant?

Just then, my mother and Lloyd walked out of the door and into the alleyway. They both gave a look of surprise when they saw how messy it was now.

"Did you use your spinjitsu or something, Karma?" Lloyd asked. I shook my head.

"No, some hooded boy tried to attack her. Unlucky day for him, I heard the ruckus from the kitchen," my father informed them. My mother hurried over immediately, checking both of us over. She fretted over the small bruises on my father's cheeks and shoulders, making my father sigh.

"Lin, I've had worse injuries. Bruises are nothing," he reminded her.

"I know, but sometimes they're more than what they seem, dear," my mother said, kissing the bruise on his cheek. At the same time, Lloyd walked up to me, holding one of the blades with care.

"Did his sword break or something?" he asked, showing me the blade. I shook my head.

"He had some kind of mechanism that made him look like Wolverine...you know who that is, right?" I asked. Lloyd nodded.

I sighed. "Anyways, we're going to have to head back to Steep Wisdom early. I need to tell the team about something."

"Is something about that boy I fought?" my father asked. I nodded in response.

"Well, you may want to call my mom to see if everyone is still there. They were talking about going into the City with the new team members today," Lloyd advised. I nodded, then looked to my parents. I hated to have to cut my visit short, but lives could be at risk. There's no telling what Alex has in mind, whether it be ridiculous or devastating. There was a bigger chance that it was going to be something stupid, but I didn't want to risk anything. I also had a feeling that Alex's statement about the sheep had something to do with it. Whatever it was, I had to tell the others about it, and hopefully find out what it was.

Though, I still wonder how Alex found my home, and how he knew I'd be here.


	3. Chapter 3

After a short phone call to Misako and a quick goodbye to my parents, both Lloyd and I headed off on our dragons, looking for our friends. Misako had told us they were going to be at the arcade, but I felt like it wasn't true. They never usually go there unless Lloyd drags them there, and Lloyd is with me. Though, they could just be showing the newbies the different places of the City. The problem was, though, there's three arcades in Ninjago City! Which one would they be at exactly!?

"Hey, do you have any idea what arcade they'd be at? You're the one that usually drags them there," I questioned Lloyd. He was silent for a moment, then spoke up.

"Well, I usually go to the one in the eastern part of the City. Maybe they're there?" he answered. It could be a possibility. They'd most likely go to the arcade that Lloyd goes to.

"Okay, to the east arcade we go!" I exclaimed, my dragon speeding towards the east. Though, as we flew, the awkward memory from earlier filled my mind, causing me to cringe in embarrassment. God, why does my brain keep reminding me of this!? Does it want to torture me or something!? Make me die of embarrassment? Though, I guess I could apologize for what I said, so Lloyd doesn't get the wrong idea. I mean, I really don't see him in that way...I think...but I should still apologize!

I turned to see if Lloyd had caught up yet, then I spoke.

"Hey, um, Lloyd?" I asked to get his attention. He looked over.

"Yeah?" he answered. I could already feel the awkwardness setting in.

"Um, I'm really sorry about what I said earlier...when you gave me that staff. I was just...really overjoyed and that's the first thing that popped out of my mouth. I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea," I apologized, feeling quite nervous and awkward.

"Oh, it's alright. I...knew you didn't mean it that way. You were just really excited, that's all," Lloyd said, sounding just as nervous as me. What would he be so nervous about though!? I'm the one who embarrassed the crap out of myself by not watching what I say. If only I had said it in a different language! Though...that could have been bad too since the other languages I speak are Japanese and Chinese, and Kai & Nya speak both of those. I would definitely get teased later by them, or at least just by Kai. Either way, I was bound to have bad luck and be stuck with this awkward memory. Apologizing didn't even help it either!

The ride to the arcade was silent, and I fear that my apology made it even more awkward. Ha, great going me! Way to make things better! Though, I felt relieved when we arrived at the arcade and the awkwardness was over. We tried looking through the darkened windows of the building to try and spot out friends, but all we could see was children playing different videogames and a small crowd in the back. Could they be within the crowd?

Lloyd and I entered the arcade and looked around as we slowly walked to the back. We didn't see any sign of them, so we assumed they were in the crowd. As we approached the crowd, I could hear a machine ahead emitting EDM-like music. Must be a rhythm game or something. Though, once Lloyd broke through the crowd, I immediately knew where they were.

Just ahead, on a dance game machine, stood four players. The two on left moved in nearly perfect unison and one of them had the pale green skin tone of a ghost. Well, there's Cole. The girl to the right of him had blonde hair, who I immediately recognized as his sister, Sammie. I had to admit, they were really great at this game. They seemed to be beating the other two players.

I spotted our friends amongst the crowd and led Lloyd over to them. When I approached them, I noticed they were all cheering on Cole and Sammie, but Nathan was giving a look of complete awe. I couldn't tell of his eyes were locked on Cole or Sammie though. I was wondering how Cole's feet were even touching the panels on the game though.

"Hey, there you guys are. We were wondering where you were," Nya said, noticing our arrival.

"Eh, I was just visiting my parents so I could return my mom's chestplate. I decided to let Lloyd tag along, since he had nothing to do," I informed her, "But I need to tell you guys something once Cole and Sammie are done with their game. It's urgent."

Nya gave a look of curiosity. "Did something happen?"

"Kinda sorta. I'll explain it all when we leave," I told her. She gave a look of curiosity for a few more moments, then nodded and turned back to the brother and sister pair's dancing.

Once they were finished, the small crowd cheered and Sammie jumped in glee, ecstatic over their victory. Though, when it came time to enter a nickname for their high score, Cole accidentally misspelled "RCK" as "RKT".

"Um, Cole, that says 'wrecked' instead of 'rock'," Sammie informed her brother. He glanced at the screen, then said a simple "Oh."

"It's not a bad nickname! It just shows you two totally wrecked those people at the game!" Hunter yelled from a game he was playing with Jay. With the turn of a joystick and the press of a few buttons, I saw Hunter win the game, which looked to be one of those fighting games.

"But Rumble McSkirmish always wins..." Jay mourned his loss as Hunter smiled victoriously. Seeing that my friends were now done with their games, I spoke up before they could start another.

"Hey! Um, could I talk to you guys outside? It's really important," I called to my teammates. They all turned to look at me. I saw Cole nod.

"OK," he said, walking out of the arcade. The others followed, and I followed them. We met on the sidewalk nearby the arcade, taking care to not block the whole sidewalk. I told them all what happened, from believing Alex was Okami, to my dad kicking his ass. The others seemed to pick up on what was going on immediately, but the new team members were confused.

"One question, who exactly is Alex?" Cass asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah, he sounds like a total dingus," Hunter commented. I went ahead and told them all we knew about him. I also explained what Psion and Psionics is, since Nathan had no idea what it was.

"Well, it shouldn't be hard to put him back in his place if he's planning something. He _did_ run away scared when we fought Sebastian and Marléne," Lilly said.

"Yeah, but the one phrase he said sounded off," I added. What exactly did he mean by 'a wolf amongst the sheep'?

"You said the phrase was 'There is a wolf amongst the sheep', correct?" Zane asked, to which I nodded.

"The phrase could possibly have relations to the metaphor 'a wolf in sheep's clothing', which means someone who is innocent is actually much more unpleasant on the inside or when no one is looking," the nindroid explained, "In our case, 'a wolf amongst the sheep' means there is traitor amongst us."

"But how would Alex know?" Kai asked.

"The person who is a traitor must be working alongside him," Zane answered the fire ninja, "But until we see actual signs of someone being not what they seem, we should not worry."

That didn't stop me from worrying though. There's a traitor amongst us!? But no one seems like one! Not even the new people! Though, the traitor could very well be one of the new people. I mean, think about it. We've never had a threat like this before, and I'm sure if it was one of the existing members of the team it would have been resolved already. It surely was one of the new members, but I wasn't going to accuse anyone just yet. I have to see suspicious behavior first before I claim something, that way I have evidence, and I'm not just claiming something for the fun of it.

"But if there really is a traitor in the team, the question would be: who?" Cole said. Everyone looked at each other, looks mixed with suspicion and worry. They all were wondering the same thing as him.

"Let us not fret about this now. We need to inform Sensei about this," Zane said, to which we all nodded in agreement. We headed back to Steep Wisdom, the feeling of suspicion lingering in the air. The news of a traitor possibly being on the team has now left everyone alarmed. Though, no one seemed to be suspicious enough to be a traitor...

 _Or so I thought._


	4. Chapter 4

_Ninjago City, Unknown Building, 1:27 am._

 _"Curse that old man! Curse that girl's family! Curse everyone!_ " Alex grumbled under his breath as he rubbed a bruise on his cheek. After taking a serious beating from the man he believed to be Karma's father, he had teleported back to where he and Marléne have been hiding for a while now. It's a miracle that the cops haven't found this place yet, especially since Marléne tends to not disguise herself when leaving the building, despite being a wanted criminal.

"I told you I should have come along! Then you wouldn't have gotten beaten!" Marléne said, to which Alex gave an annoyed sigh.

"If I brought you along, you would have paused to look inside the windows of every shoe store in the City!" he claimed as he pulled his hair back into a small ponytail. He pulled his goggles over his head, setting them on the top of his head.

"Well, at least I have style! I mean, look at yours!" the woman knelt on one knee and pointed at his footwear: leather boots that were covered by the legs of his jeans. Two leather straps wrapped around the legs of his jeans where his boots were. "C'est est ceux!?" Marléne exclaimed, pointing at them. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Footwear that is actually suitable for what I do. I don't wear really short dresses and heels like you do," he said.

"I only wear these so I can show off my gorgeous legs!" the woman exclaimed, setting a leg on the table where Alex was working. He took one glance at them, then gave her a "what the hell!?" look.

"Take your ugly leg off the table, ya old hag," he said. Marléne scoffed.

"Hey! I'm about your age! Don't call me an old hag!" she shouted, offended.

"By 'about my age' you mean we're apart by forty years. I don't want to see your gross, wrinkly legs. Get them off the table. The stink coming from your feet is killing my sense of smell," Alex told her. He did know that Marléne was only thirty, which didn't put a huge age gap between them like he said, but he couldn't resist making his colleague mad. It was what he did best after all.

Marléne made a few unintelligible noises of frustration, then removed her leg from the table, only to stomp her foot with the same leg.

"Just let me go next time you go to do something," she pleaded. Alex turned in his chair and looked back at her.

"How about no," he responded, "You'll just take it over. Old hag."

He turned back to his work and smiled to himself as he listened to Marléne make noises of frustration. A fast way to get entertainment as he waited for his plan to get into motion. It would take a few days, but it would be worth it. So worth it. He'd finally be able to take over Ninjago with ease, and maybe even the world next! All he had to do was wait.

 _Ninjago City, Chen's Noodlehouse, 5:50 pm_.

It's been a little over a week since my encounter with Alex. Since then, Sensei has instructed us to keep a sharp eye out in case what Alex had said was true. No one has expressed suspicious behavior since then, or that's at least what I have seen. Jay keeps claiming that one of the new team members, Nathan to be specific, has been acting weird according to him. He claims that he always acts anxious when addressed and seems to watch everyone. I'm wondering if Jay overreacted to him being shy, or if he really is the wolf amongst the sheep.

I decided I would find out later, as I took the new members to Chen's Noodlehouse (which I will have to admit my sin of coming to place again to my parents.). Upon hearing that we were going here, Lilly immediately tagged along, most likely to see her little girl crush again.

"Alright everyone, six bowls!" Skylor announced as she slid all six bowls of noodles off her shoulders and over to the correct person.

"And I can't even balance one on my shoulder," Cass said as her bowl slid right to her. Skylor chuckled.

"It takes a _lot_ of practice. Trust me, I've broken many bowls before I became a pro at this," she informed her. I looked over at Lilly, who was admiring the redhead and didn't even notice her bowl slide over to her.

"Is she alright? She's been zoned out for quite a while," Skylor noticed. I giggled.

"She's probably thinking about her boyfriend or something," I said, covering up the fact that Lilly was admiring her. Almost immediately, the blonde snapped back to attention, her cheeks becoming pink upon notice of Skylor standing in front of her.

"Ah, I remember when I had one. He was...okay though. We just didn't really click," Skylor said. Wait, didn't Cole say Kai and Skylor broke up over Skylor wanting to focus more on her father's business? Eh...she could have used that as a reason to break up instead of "Hey, your ego is so big it's crushing me right now and I can't stand it any longer. It's time to say _adios_."

"What's in these noodles!? They taste amazing!" Hunter exclaimed. Skylor rubbed her chin.

"My dad used to say he put people in the recipe for the noodles," she informed us, to which Hunter dropped both his jaw and his chopsticks, "but hey, it was probably a joke or something. Who knows what he puts in these things."

Hunter stared down at his dinner, as though he were considering eating it or not. After a few moments, he picked up his chopsticks and continued eating, most likely thinking that Skylor said that as a joke.

Just as we all started to finish our meals, a girl with wavy, hot pink hair walked out of the kitchen. There was a light blue streak in her hair and her skin was just as dark as Skylor's. Her eyes were a bright purple and she wore a salmon-colored lipstick. She walked over the redhead and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

"Gotta go. My dad needs me over at the village again for God knows why. See ya later babe," the girl said before walking to the door. Skylor waved a goodbye to her.

"Just remember to call me if you need help, Seliel!" she reminded the girl. Seliel nodded and waved as she walked out. I was a little surprised at all of this. Skylor's already going out with someone else? You'd think someone would need time to heal from a breakup, but it looks like she doesn't.

After the meal, we bid Skylor goodbye and headed back to Steep Wisdom, which is when I began to notice what Jay claimed before. When I looked over at Nathan while we were flying home, he was staring at Sammie. His expression was pretty neutral as well, showing no signs of awe or anything. It was slightly creepy, but I just assumed it was something he does. I mean, I know someone has a friend who's always staring at people for no reason. I figured that if it got any creepier, I would question Nathan about it as soon as possible, if Jay didn't beat me to it first.

Though, I couldn't help but wonder if Jay is the traitor. I mean, think about it. He was so quick to claim Nathan was suspicious. Though he is displaying some of these behaviors, some things are still off with Jay's claim. What if Jay is trying to frame Nathan so he can go through with some evil plan? Now we had two suspects, both displaying odd behavior, but what if they're both traitors? What if Alex lied!? What if I'm just paranoid!?

Either could be correct, but it was so hard to tell which would be correct. The best I could do was wait.


	5. Chapter 5

Despite the alarm amongst my teammates over the news of a traitor, we still trained, as if nothing was wrong. No one tried to kill the other while sparring...I hope. I know Cass and I didn't. In fact, Cass put up a good fight that left me a little tired afterwards. I sat down on the steps to the shop and wiped my face with a towel, smiling as Cass came to sit next to me.

"You did pretty well, but you kinda need to work on your blocks," she informed me as she took a seat. I could agree. My blocking wasn't all that great.

"Yeah, it needs some work. No wonder I get hurt so much when fighting," I said.

"Well, I can help you with those. All you have to do is ask," Cass smiled. I felt a feeling of delight towards her offer.

"Okay, I'll keep it in mind," I smiled back. Looks like I won't always have to depend on Sensei Wu and Lilly to teach me things.

After a few brief moments of silence, I spoke up, saying, "So, this whole traitor ordeal, it's kinda crazy huh?"

Cass nodded. "Not the kind of news I expected on my first day."

"I wouldn't think so," I responded, "Though, I have a feeling this whole thing is gonna drive the team crazy. Jay is already accusing Nathan of being the traitor, and I have a feeling hundreds of other accusations are to come."

"I doubt Nathan is the traitor," Cass said immediately, "Hunter would know if he was. Jay is just accusing him to accuse him."

"But what if it's both Nathan and Hunter that are the traitors?" I questioned.

"Don't let Jay's idjit nonsense mess with your brain. Hunter and Nathan wouldn't betray anyone. I've known them for years," she defended them. I hated to admit it, but I was having trouble trusting everyone right now. I didn't know whether I should trust Cass's words or not. I was really on edge, and felt as though I couldn't trust anyone on the team.

"So...who do you think the traitor is?" I asked her.

"Someone shady most likely. Though, whoever it is is doing a great job at hiding it. There's still a way to find out who it is though," Cass answered, "You have analyze the things they do, like in a TV show. I once analyzed an episode after many people claimed a character didn't die. All I did was keep in mind what his shirt color was and, surely enough, there he was, getting eaten by zombies on screen. There was no way he could survive that mob."

"So, you're saying I have to spy on them?" I questioned. Cass shrugged.

"If you want to. I'd just say watch what they do carefully. If you know it's not something they normally do, something's up," she informed me. I nodded in understanding. That's just what I'd do, watch what they do. It could lead to me becoming a suspect, but I didn't care. I had to find out who this traitor was before things became worse.

Just then, I noticed someone walk up. I watched the velvet boots move forward until they stood in front of Cass and I.

"I'm sorry but the shop is clo-" my voice trailed off as I looked up at the person. I recognized the blonde bob immediately, though sunglasses his her sapphire eyes. Lilly's mother had come for an unexpected visit. I wanted to groan. Why now!? Of all times!? I doubted that this was going to be great news to Lilly.

"Oh, dear I'm not here for the tea shop," the woman chuckled as she removed her sunglasses, "I'm here for my daughter."

Cass glanced at me with a confused look and I sighed.

"Um, just a second Mrs. Genisis. Let me go get her," I said, leaving Cass with her. I felt a little bad for it, but this wouldn't take long. I rushed through the store and into the living room in the back, looking for the blonde. I immediately found her and Kai playing a video game in the room, most likely using it as a way to cool off from training.

"Don't mess me up you hedgehog! I'm about to beat the boss!" Lilly warned Kai as she mashed several buttons on her controller.

"Oh wow, I've upgraded to 'hedgehog' now. Should I be flattered?" the red ninja smiled.

"If you want to be," Lilly responded, her eyes locked on the boss battle taking place in the game. Kai's avatar remained idle as she used all her attacks to fight the boss, which was a huge eyeball. Reminds me of the Preeminent really. Except less menacing.

Kai faked a yawn and leaned against Lilly's shoulder, causing her cheeks to become pink.

"Could you not, sea urchin?" she said, trying to keep her eyes on the game. Kai chuckled.

"What else are you gonna call me? Cactus? Knife? Maybe the hottest substance on the planet?" he questioned as her cheeks transitioned from pink to red.

"Not even close, porcup-" she was cut off by the sound of trumpets playing a sad tune. The screen displayed GAME OVER in big letters, with the sound of the boss laughing menacingly in the background. Lilly glared at the master of fire as he smiled mischeviously.

"Kai, I swear to god!" she shouted, tackling him. She looked as though she were about to kill him, but she didn't go through with it. I stepped a little closer, clearing my throat to catch their attention.

"Hey, um-" I started to say, but was then cut off by an older woman's voice saying, "What did I just walk in on!?"

I turned to see that Lilly's mother had walked in, and at the most awkward of times too. This was bad. Very bad.

Lilly's whole face became tomato red, and her expression was a mixture of fright and surprise.

"Mom, what the hell!?" she said.

"What the hell!? What the hell are you doing!?" her mother responded.

"It's not what it looks like!" Lilly shouted. Her mother walked over and pulled Kai out from under her, throwing him into a wall.

"What a polite way to say 'hello'," Kai said sarcastically. Lilly's mother ignored him and held her daughter by the shoulders.

"Just...what was that?" she asked the girl, her voice filled with frustration.

"He made me lose the boss battle on my game so I was about to punch his face in!" Lilly answered. Her mother gave her a look like she didn't trust her, then sighed. The woman looked over at Kai, then at me and the others who had come inside. She let go of her daughter's shoulders, then looked at her.

"Follow me. We need to talk," she told her. A frightened look appeared on Lilly's face, as if she were in a horror movie and knew what was to come. Her mother took her hand and walked off with her elsewhere. Once they were out of the room, Kai stood up, brushing himself off.

"She didn't need to throw me into the wall," he complained, rubbing his back.

"Be happy she didn't shoot you in the head," I told Kai, "She could have had her gun on her."

"Or she could have spin kicked you," Hunter added. Kai sighed.

"What is that crazy woman's problem anyway? She even seemed odd during the battle with the Preeminent," he recalled. We all shrugged. I glanced over at the hallway Lilly and her mother went down, wondering what was happening. I doubt it's normal to get that frightened over your parents wanting to talk to you. Something's up.

"I'm gonna go check in on them," I informed my teammates quietly, before sneaking down the hallway in silence. I tiptoed as I peeked into each room. I could hear the sounds of conversation growing louder as I went farther down the hallway, and I stopped once I reached the room I could hear Lilly's mother talking in. I cracked the door open slightly and sat with my back flat against the wall. I made sure that I wasn't able to be seen, then listened in.

"This is why I can't let you go anywhere! You always go against what I tell you to do!" her mother sounded exasperated. I heard Lilly give an annoyed sigh.

"Mom...I'm 21, I'm not a freakin' baby anymore. You don't need to supervise everything I do," she reminded her mother. Her mother was silent for a few moments, most likely thinking about what her daughter said. Lilly did have a point. She's 21, she doesn't have to be under supervision anymore. It's legal. Technically, she hasn't needed to be under supervision since she was 18.

"Just...I don't want you making the same mistakes I did," her mother told her.

"And you know I won't! I'm not that stupid, Mom!" Lilly argued, "Now could you please leave?"

Her mother looked insulted. "Lillian-"

"No, don't even start! You're just going to go over the story again of why you don't let me be around guys! I get it! You did some stupid shit when you were a teen and now you're unsure if my Dad is my actual dad! I don't need to hear it again! Just lea-" Before Lilly could finish, I heard her get struck (most likely across the face) hard. I peeked in quickly to see what was going on, worry swelling inside me for some reason. I could see Lilly's mother standing with a much more serious expression as her daughter rubbed the red hand mark that was now on her cheek.

"So...we're going back to this now? Back to you slapping me every time I said something that you wanted to deny?" Lilly said in a quiet voice, not looking at her mother. Her mother's expression didn't change.

"Don't ever talk to me that way again, young lady," her mother told her in a strict tone. Lilly glared at her.

"You know, this is why I ran away in the first place," she said, "Any time I brought up something that's true or pointed out your errors, you would slap me. What a great mom you are."

Her mother struck her across the face again but harder, causing Lilly to make a small yelp.

"I told you not to talk to me that way!" her mother shouted, grabbing her daughter by the ponytail. That's it. I had to get this crazy woman out of here. I glanced down the hallway to spot Zane, who had been standing there the whole time.

"Zane! Could you assist me with something!?" I called to the nindroid down the hallway as I stood up. He nodded and walked over to me. I opened the door quickly, my fists now igniting into orbs of dark magic.

"Stop right there Mrs. Genisis!" I shouted. The woman looked over at us, not letting go of her daughter's hair.

"We have a rule here, and it applies to everywhere as well! No one hurts our teammates! Not even their parents! We're going to have to ask you to leave," I said, anger in my voice. Mrs. Genisis looked at me like I just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"She's my daughter, not yours. I can do what I want to her. Right now she's being punished for talking back to me," she said.

"You cannot do what you want her because she is your daughter. She is a human being, not a doll. There are much less hurtful ways of punishing your child," Zane informed the woman. She released Lilly, but her expression did not change.

"Maybe I have different ways of punishment than the rest of the world, so what!?" she exclaimed. Zane stepped in front of me.

"Your punishments are like beatings, which are unacceptable. We are asking you to leave. You can either go politely, or I can resort to force," he said sternly. Mrs. Genisis did not move for a moment, then she sighed.

"Fine. I'll go," she said, glaring at the robot and I. She walked past us silently, going down the hallway and leaving Steep Wisdom. Once we were sure she was gone, we walked over to Lilly. Zane scanner her for any other injuries, then stepped back.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. She nodded silently.

"You guys didn't need to step in...I was fine," she told us in a quiet voice.

"No you weren't! Your mom was being a dingus to you! I couldn't just stand aside!" I told her.

"Karma...I'm used to it...you didn't need to-" she started to say, but I interrupted her. "Lilly, I wasn't going to stand back and let her hurt you. I don't care if you've endured it years before. You don't deserve to be hurt again."

Her icy blue eyes widened a bit and she blinked.

"I..." she started to say, "...thank you."

I smiled and nodded. It made me happy again to see that she was alright now, though, now I felt hatred for her mother. Her mom was crazy! Though, if her mom acts like this, then what's her dad like? Lilly never talks about him, leaving me no clue as to how he acts but I still wonder about it. Is he a better person than her mom? Or is he the same way?


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay everyone, I've gathered you all here today to discuss our current situation: the Traitor," Jay said as he stuffed a kolache in his mouth. Hunter, Cass, Sammie, Cole, and I all sat a table with a Jay at a cafe in the City. A plate of doughnuts and kolaches sat in the middle of the table, the fresh and delicious smell making my mouth water. I refused to eat them though, so Cole wouldn't feel alone.

"Um, where's everyone else?" Cole asked, looking at the plate of pastries longingly. Jay swallowed his food, glancing at the ghostly young man.

"I don't trust them...and Lilly said she wanted to stay home," he answered him. Hunter gave a look of surprise.

"Wow, you don't trust Nya!? I thought you loved her," he said. Jay shook his head immediately.

"No no no! She just didn't want to come! I'd never not trust her!" he claimed. Hunter raised an eyebrow.

"But you just said you didn't trust her, along with my brother and the rest of the team," he reminded the redhead. Jay heaved a sigh.

"Just let me get through with this, Hunter," he said. Hunter remained silent and ate a doughnut, waiting for Jay to continue with his explanation. I saw Cole look at the doughnut, most likely yearning for a bite.

"Anyways, back to today's subject," Jay said as he pulled a notepad from his jacket. He flipped it open to (no offense to Jay) badly drawn profiles of our friends. I tried to not laugh at the pictures of Kai and Nathan's faces, whose hair was just pointed squiggles. It looked like something out of a bad "how to draw manga" book.

"Our prime suspects here are the team members who were not invited to this meeting: Kai, Zane, Nathan, Sensei Wu, Lloyd, and Misako. Lilly and Nya are excused from this list because they have not displayed suspicious behavior, though I do not exactly trust Lilly," the blue ninja informed us. Hunter immediately raised a hand.

"Question! Why is Nathan a suspect?" he asked.

"That's a good question, why _is_ Nathan a suspect?" Jay said, rubbing his chin, "Well! Maybe if your brother didn't spy on people and act weird when addressed, he wouldn't be one!"

"You do realize that Nathan could be shy, and that if he really was the traitor, Hunter would know," Cass said. Hunter nodded.

"But Nathan could be keeping it secret!" Jay argued.

"If he was the traitor it would be REALLY obvious, Jay. Trust me," Hunter said. Jay was about to argue again, but clamped his mouth shut.

"Okay, fine...next suspect," he said. He pointed a finger at the small drawing of what looked to be Zane. "The nindroid!"

"Why would Zane be a suspect?" Cole questioned.

"Haven't you ever noticed that when he's actually relaxing, he laughs at random times!? Pretty weird if you ask me," Jay answered him, shoving another kolache in his mouth. Cole raised a single bushy eyebrow.

"Um, Jay, last I recall, Zane laughs at random times because Pixal told him robot humor or something. You told me that when you were repairing his arm after the trip to the beach. In fact you thought it was adorable," the black ninja reminded his teammate. Jay made a pouty face.

"They have such a better relationship than Nya and I. I'm jealous," he whispered in a sad tone. You know, if he wanted to repair his relationship with Nya, he should try doing more things with her. Though, Nya needs to pitch in on this too. It can't just be Jay doing everything.

"Okay, onto Kai now," Jay said, pointing to the badly drawn porcupine. He paused to take a drink of water, then cleared his throat.

"Two days ago, Cole and I went with Kai into the City to go run some errands for Sensei. While we were walking down the sidewalk, we passed that shop that sells Christmas stuff year round (ridiculous, am I right!?). The weirdest thing I noticed? Kai looked at the stuff the whole time we walked past it! Quite unusual for him," he exclaimed, "Now, Karma knows why this would be odd, but you new guys don't, so I'll inform you. Kai is afraid of Christmas. He never wants to look at Christmas stuff. In fact, he doesn't even like the word 'Christmas'."

Hunter started to laugh and the other two tried to contain their laughter after Jay revealed Kai's fear. I didn't know how to react. I could recall Zane telling me that it was no laughing matter, but at the same time I felt like the reason behind his fear was going to be ridiculous. There was no way someone could be afraid of Christmas any other way.

"It sounds stupid, but it's not something to laugh about," Jay's tone suddenly became serious, startling me a little. I've never heard Jay in this serious of a tone. I guess it's not really a laughing matter.

"I'm guessing no one has told any of you why he's afraid of it...except for Cole," Jay sighed. I nodded. He took another drink of water before looking at us again, a more serious look in his eyes instead of paranoia. "I might as well tell you, so Kai or Nya don't have to retell the story."

"Many years ago, when Kai was but 7 and Nya was only 5, possibly one of the worst things in their life happened, all on the happiest and cheeriest day of the year, too. It was the evening of Christmas Day, and they were spending time with their parents. Seems pretty pleasant, right? Well, it didn't stay that way for long.

"Kai's father thought he heard some banging in the shop, so he went to go check it out. Before he even walked through the door, Kai says he remembers seeing a sword blade impaling his father and some masked figure pushing through. Kai and Nya's mother tried to protect her children, but ended up dying the same way her husband did. Kai and Nya were obviously spared by this masked man, but Kai says what terrified him the most was that the masked man was wearing a Santa mask, and left him scarred for life. Hence, why he fears Christmas. It reminds him of the day his parents died."

Silence filled the table as we all took in the story Jay told us. I felt really bad for thinking he was scared of it for ridiculous reasons. Really bad.

"Okay, I feel really bad for laughing now," Hunter admitted, a guilty look on his face. Cass nodded in agreement.

"I remember hearing about that once. It was the first time I had heard anything major like that happening in Ignacia. They never found the killer," she told us. Jay nodded.

"Does Nya have the same fear?" Sammie asked.

"She doesn't because she doesn't remember much of it for some reason. She doesn't like anything with Santa Claus on it though," the blue ninja informed us.

"So...if Kai looks at anything Christmas-related..it's weird?" I asked. Jay nodded again.

"He never looks at anything Christmas related. He doesn't really take part in any Christmas activities. He even refuses to eat gingerbread," he answered. I could get where this was going now. So it was extremely odd for Kai to look at anything festive. That's two people to my suspect list.

"Now, onward to my last suspects, the Garmadon family," Jay said, catching everyone's attention. I was a little confused on this one. What could make them suspicious?

"It is known that evil runs through the Garmadon family, starting with Sensei Garmadon being bitten by the Devourer. What if that evil spread to Sensei Wu or Misako? Or did he transfer it to Lloyd through genetics?" the blue ninja spoke, his tone paranoid instead of serious now. I wanted to laugh at Jay's accusation. There's no way Lloyd could evil.

"Um, Jay, there's no way any of them could be evil. Lloyd's too good of a kid, too," I said. Jay slid across the table immediately, the plate of pastries sticking to his stomach and his half full glass of water falling over, nearly spilling on poor Cole.

"That's what you think, but you have been blinded by seduction!" Jay accused. I could feel my cheeks turning pink. What does he mean exactly!?

"What!?" I asked.

"Lloyd has seduced you with his young teenage looks to blind you! I have enough evidence from the day the new members showed up!" Jay claimed. My cheeks burned.

"Please don't bring that day up," I groaned.

"Denial!" Jay accused like an angry lawyer. I heard Cass sigh.

"You know Jay, what if _you_ are the traitor?" she questioned. The redhead froze.

"I am not. What makes you think that?" he asked.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe the fact that you're paranoid as hell and accusing anyone who twitches their nose," Cass brought up. She had a point.

"I can assure you that I'm not the traitor. I'm sure of it," the blue ninja claimed. Before anyone could say anything, the waitress walked up, a scowl plastered on her face.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you and your party to leave. You have been disturbing the peace in this establishment," she asked him politely, despite the frown on her face. Jay groaned.

"Okay, let's go guys."

I now have three suspects on my list: Nathan, Jay, and Kai. Jay and Kai have displayed more peculiar behavior, while Nathan's is still mild. I'll have to keep an eye on all three of them though. There's no telling who could be the actual traitor.

 **8-5 9-19 14-15-20 23-8-15 25-15-21 20-8-9-14-11 8-5 9-19**

 _(Hint: Count the letters in the alphabet. What number falls on what letter?)_


	7. Chapter 7

**WARNING: This chapter includes stronger language than what you usually see in here (people are gonna drop the F-bomb and stuff.). Just a heads up to anyone that has a problem with strong profanity.**

This past few days I've gotten to know the new teammates better, despite Jay's antics with trying to find the traitor. I've found out that they have learned spinjitsu and how to summon their dragons already from Cole, Cass has an older sister and brother, Hunter once shoved a hot dog up his nose (don't even ask how we got on the subject of that one), Hunter and Nathan's parents are deceased, and that Sammie avoided dance school, just like her brother, and evidently their colors are purple (Cass), orange (Hunter), light blue (Nathan), and yellow (Sammie). I could already tell confusion was going to happen between both Nathan and Jay, since they both are blue ninja. Other than that, I was delighted that I got to know more about my new friends, and they got to know more about me as well.

Though, this drama with the traitor is really driving Jay insane. You can really tell. Dark circles have started to appear under the poor guy's eyes and he's started spying on everyone, which is getting really creepy. He's started writing notes on his notepad, documenting any kind of suspicious action by any of us. I tend to get anxious when he's around with his notepad, hoping he's not writing down anything about me. The way he's been acting has prevented me from watching Kai and Nathan's actions though, leaving me only with partial evidence that Jay could be our wolf amongst the sheep. He's been acting weirdly enough to prove it, but at the same time he's too engulfed with paranoia to be the traitor. He's too anxious and tends to jump the gun a lot. Someone who was a double agent wouldn't be acting that way, would they?

I've begun to see why Jay tends to accuse Nathan so much though. I've noticed that my new friend does indeed act anxious, as though he's hiding something. Sometimes way more often than normal, leaving me suspicious. I wish to investigate further, but Jay's antics have restricted me from getting more info.

I was restricted again from getting info today because I got stuck with shop duty with Lloyd. How wonderful, just keep increasing the awkwardness between us, Cloud Kingdom. Though, it wasn't as bad as the day I blurted out the words that started it all. That day was horrid. Absolutely horrid. I hope it never happens again. Though, as I stood there at the counter, staring into it's surface, my thoughts began to change.

Maybe I do like him more than I think? No, I wanted to shake my head. That wasn't true...or was it? I wasn't sure. My feelings were so complex, so complicated, even I couldn't figure out if I truly liked him or not. It was like trying to figure out a math problem. Was the answer x or y?

I looked over at the blond as he stocked the shelf behind the counter with pots full of tea leaves and fragrant ingredients for certain teas. He smiled to himself as he placed the pots carefully next to each other on the shelf, making sure that they wouldn't fall. I watched him blink, the eye that I could see changing from red to green. I had to admit, I was still fascinated by the fact that his eyes could change colors so easily like that. This kid, who I've only known for a year, has somehow made me question my feelings. I've had plenty of times similar to this, but this time just felt really different.

I mean, we've been through hell together. From seeing horrific images forced in our minds, to being possessed, to even losing loved ones we adored so dearly, we both have been through a lot. Yet, somehow, it didn't break out friendship. Somehow we've managed stay together, and even become best friends. Now, though, I'm afraid that having feelings beyond friendship may break our bond, destroying our friendship as well. I suppose that I might as well keep any kind of feelings like that tucked away for now. I don't want to destroy our friendship.

"Hey, Karma, could you give me your honest opinion?" Lloyd asked suddenly, causing me to snap out of my thoughts. I looked over at him to see that he had a slightly nervous look on his face. It must be something important. I quickly nodded, making sure not to take too long. The green ninja hesitated for a moment, as if he were unsure about something, then he sighed.

"Do yo-" he started to ask, but was immediately interrupted by the sudden slamming of the two front doors.

"Helloooo ninja!" a heard a man say with a singsong voice. I looked over at the doors to see (surprisingly enough) Xavier standing in front of them, a smile on his face. How exactly did he find this place? I mean, I know there are flyers throughout the City, but...how does he know the ninja run it? I watched him jog up to the counter and pull me in to a hug that felt like it was going to crush my ribs.

"Oh, it's been too long, Karma! How is everything?" he asked.

"Xavier...it's only been a month since Lilly and I last visited you," I reminded him as he let go of me.

"That's still a long time in my opinion," he said, a smile still on his face. That's a long time for a man who can see 900,000 years into the past and future!?

"Um, could I ask who you are?" Lloyd asked, looking at the hyper, crimson-haired man who had entered the shop. Xavier slid over to the boy.

"Well, if it isn't Lloyd Garmadon! You have a lot ahead of you, young man!" he exclaimed, shaking the blond's hand. Lloyd looked bewildered, and possibly even a little freaked out that he knew his name already. Xavier seemed to notice this look, and stopped shaking his hand.

"I apologize. My name is Xavier Erland, master of time. I am a good friend Lilly and Karma," he introduced himself. Lloyd gave a look of surprise.

"Time? So, you can stop time or?" his voice trailed off as he tried to think of all the possibilities of what Xavier's power could be. Xavier shrugged.

"Somewhat yes actually, but not completely. The most I can do is see and travel into the future and past. I try to not mess with the events that transpire in time, though. Everything does happen for a reason after all," he explained. Lloyd's expression started to brighten when he spoke about traveling through time, but then it saddened when he said "Everything happens for a reason." I assumed that Lloyd was thinking about his father.

"Well, you guys mind introducing me to the rest of your teammates? I'd love to meet them," Xavier asked.

"We don't mind at all," Lloyd said, a hospitable look replacing the sad one, "Please, follow me."

Before he could walk through the door though, I tugged on Lloyd's shirt to stop him. He turned to look at me, now giving a bit of a confused look.

"What were you going to ask me earlier?" I asked him in a whisper. The blond was silent for a moment, then his cheeks became pink and he shook his head.

"Just...forget about it," he whispered before walking through the door with Xavier. I started to feel like I had messed up as I watched them disappear behind the door. Did I say something wrong to make Lloyd not tell me? Did he forget? Or maybe he just decided not to ask me for whatever reason? I really wanted to find out, because the way Lloyd had said it, it sounded important. I wonder what it was...

I decided to go into the living room to see how Xavier was doing with meeting everyone, only to enter to Jay questioning the poor man. Xavier looked extremely uncomfortable as Jay asked him questions and jotted down things on his notepad. The blue ninja stared at him with distrust as the master of time answered each question.

"Um, Jay, what exactly are you doing?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips. Jay looked up from his notepad, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm testing to make sure that we can trust him. You never know when a visitor is actually the traitor's partner in crime!" the redhead exclaimed. I gave him a what-the-hell look.

"He's a friend of Lilly and I. Why would he be untrustworthy?" I questioned. Jay jumped up from his seat and scrambled over to me.

"Well, maybe I don't have complete trust in you and Lilly as of right now! Just because he's a 'friend' of yours doesn't mean I'm gonna trust him immediately," he told me. His words sort of stung, mainly the part where he said he doesn't trust me, but I didn't show it. I just narrowed my gaze at the young man.

"You're acting crazy, Jay. I'm actually starting to question if you even have any remaining sanity," I admitted. Jay looked offended from the remark.

"I'm not insane!" he shouted, "I just want to save this team!"

"Save it!? How are you saving it when you keep accusing Nathan over here of being the traitor when his signs aren't that extreme!? You're just terrorizing everyone and creeping us out!" I argued. Anger was starting to build up inside me and the more I tried to contain it, the more difficult it became.

"I'm just trying to save you all! Nathan's the one who's the most suspicious anyway! Why don't any of you agree with me!?" he exclaimed. He really was losing it, you could tell. I opened my mouth, ready to argue again, but I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. The hand very gently pushed me aside, placing it's owner in my spot. Nathan stood where I used to be, an angered look on his face.

"I'm the traitor, huh!?" his voice was louder than what I'm used to hearing from him, so I could tell he was really mad. "You know, Jay, ever since my second day here, all I've ever heard were rumors that I was the traitor! I've heard nothing good about me from you and all I ever hear is all your stupid theories about how I'm the traitor, and frankly, I'm freaking tired of it!"

"Well, maybe you are the traitor and just hiding it from us!" Jay argued. Nathan stared daggers at him. The nice, slightly quiet boy that I had known for more than a week isn't as nice as I thought. He stepped closer to Jay, narrowing his eyes.

"If I were the traitor, my brother would have known and would have probably ratted me out to you guys. Trust me, Hunter knows what should stay secret and what shouldn't," he informed the master of lightning. I looked over at Hunter to see him nod in agreement with his brother.

"But he could still be hiding it! Siblings tend to cover up their brother or sister's backstabbing actions and personality!" Jay shouted as Nathan glared at him, "Besides, I can tell you're the traitor because of how you act! You stare at everyone, especially Sammie, and you act all nervous all the time! Explain that!"

Nathan's cheeks started to turn red as his expression angered. I watched his hands ball into fists and tighten, and his light blue eyes started to fill with rage. He was gonna explode.

"Oh, so I guess I'm the traitor because I didn't know how to talk to you guys! I'm the traitor because I was NERVOUS ON THE FIRST WEEK! Wouldn't that make nearly everyone else in this room traitors too, Jay!? Maybe even yourself!? And," the blue ninja paused to take a breath, his eyes still locked on Jay, "Is it so wrong to like someone, Jay!? Is it SO FUCKING WRONG!? Admit it! You stared at Nya and you still do! You even stare at inappropriate places! I guess that would make you the traitor too, huh!?"

Jay cheeks became crimson as Nathan panted from yelling. I could see Kai glaring at Jay from the corner of the room. Something told me that Jay was going to be burnt to a crisp after this, if Nathan doesn't kill him first. Though, did Nathan just admit he liked Sammie!?

"That doesn't prove anything!" the dark blue ninja argued. Nathan grumbled. He looked at Jay as though he were about to dropkick the redhead. I don't blame him.

"It's not my fault that you're much dumber than you look. You just can't accept the fact that you were proven wrong!" he shouted. Jay's expression began to fill with pure rage. Then, he swung his fist and it connected with Nathan's right cheek, causing the boy to stumble back. I heard a gasp as Nathan looked up at Jay, seething. He ran up to Jay and knocked him to the ground with a spin kick. Then, he jumped onto the dark blue ninja, repeatedly punching his face. Okay, this was getting out of control.

Lilly quickly ran over and pulled Nathan off of him, restraining the master of water. Hunter ran over as well to help, and to try to calm his brother down. Zane pulled Jay off the floor and restrained him as the master of lightning kicked at the air frantically like a child throwing a tantrum.

"This is not a very pleasant display to our guest, boys," Zane said, sounding annoyed.

"He's not even in the room anyway, Zane. He went to find the bathroom minutes ago," Cass informed the nindroid. Zane shook his head.

"Still, that was childish of you two. What would Sensei say?" he said like a mother disciplining her children.

"He would probably say something about brotherly love and respect...and tea," Jay answered, glaring at Nathan. The light blue ninja glared back, looking quite exasperated. Suddenly, we all heard a loud bang, as though lots of heavy things had just fallen in one of the rooms. I looked down the hall with curiosity. Could that be Xavier? If so, why is he making that sort of noise?

"Um, is our guest okay? It sounds like he's having a bad time in there," Cole looked down the hall as well. I sighed.

"I'll go see what's wrong. He probably accidentally shut off the lights while still inside or something," I volunteered before walking down the hall. I silently walked down it then knocked on the bathroom door. Though, when I did, it creaked open, revealing no one inside. Where'd he go!? Was he just exploring our home? Or was he...? No. He couldn't be. That's be crazy.

I crept down the hallway, making sure to not make a sound as I listened for any noise. I peeked into each room as I made my way down the hallway, looking for the crimson-haired man. I stopped suddenly when I heard another bang. It was coming from Sensei's room. Believing that he was in there, I snuck down the hallway to Sensei's room, making sure that I didn't make a sound. I stopped once I got to the door to the room and peeked in, only to be shocked.

In the middle of Sensei's room, Xavier stood holding the Realm Crystal. He stared at it with awe, and kept glancing towards the window and door like a thief making sure they weren't going to get caught. He didn't spot me for some reason when he glanced at the door. Might as well call him out now.

I jumped into the doorway, raising my voice to say "Xavier, what are you doing!?"

He nearly dropped the crystal at the sight of me, startled by my sudden appearance. He held it closer to himself now, not speaking to me.

I sighed. "Xavier, no one's supposed to touch that. Please put it down."

The master of time hesitated, holding the crystal to his chest now. Then, he sighed.

"I'm sorry, Karma," he said, before running up, grabbing the top door frame, and kicking me into the hall. He darted down the hall as I recovered from the kick to the chest. I need to warn the others.

"Guys! It's not Nathan who's the traitor!" I screamed as I ran down the hall, "It's our guest!"

I quickly ran into the living room to see the others cornering Xavier. He looked frightened as they neared. Kai pointed a katana at his throat.

"I believe you should drop that, sir," he said in a fake polite voice. Xavier blinked, then looked down. He then slid under Kai and out into the open, dropping the crystal on his way. The master of time cursed, then darted out the door, seeing that there was no way to retrieve the crystal now.

"Well, at least he dropped it," Kai said, picking up the Realm Crystal. I ran out the door after Xavier, not waiting for my friends. I skidded to a stop on the pavement outside when I saw Xavier sitting on his dragon above, which was a gray with eyes that resembled clocks. The master of time turned and looked back at me. It looked like he had been crying but I couldn't tell.

"Xavier! What the hell was that!?" I shouted up at him. He had an ashamed look on his face.

"I'm sorry. Please try to forgive me," he said before flying off. Words could not describe the anger and confusion I was feeling just now. Why did he do that!? Why would he attempt to steal the crystal!? He's not the traitor...is he!? I guess there was so much more to Xavier than I thought. That being how much a thieving fake he could be!

I turned and stomped back inside, fuming. I trusted him! And now that trust is gone! I just...I can't believe it. Why would Xavier do this!?

 _3 hours after Xavier's visit, Steep Wisdom_

Lilly sat on a rock in the small pond by the tea shop, still trying to figure out what exactly happened a few hours ago. She stared down at the small waves in the pond she was making absentmindedly, lost in thought. _Why exactly would Xavier try to steal the crystal?_ she thought to herself, _That's not the master of time I knew._

She had known for Xavier for years. He was the one who gave her a place to stay when she grew weary of living on the streets. He was the one who attempted to teach her all the things he knew. He was the one who told her about the ninjas of Ninjago and encouraged her to show off her ability. _He was the first person to not discriminate her because of her powers._

Why would he steal though? He got ticked at her every time she stole food or shirts from nearby shops when she was younger. Is he just being hypocritical now? Or is there more to his story? Is there something going on that she doesn't know about?

The only thing that she could think of was that he was somehow was forced into this. There was no other way. Xavier wouldn't do it for any other reason. Though, how would he be forced into it? No one was holding a gun to the poor man's head. Unless the person who forced him to do this threatened him. How would this person threaten him though?

Lilly thought for a moment, creating slightly larger waves with gentle movements of her hand. They couldn't have been threatening him, knowing his power, so how could they threaten him? Then, it hit her. The sudden realization caused Lilly to make a large wave, causing the water to slosh against the clay brick tiles that were above the water. They didn't threaten Xavier, they threatened someone close to him.

It all made sense. Xavier does everything that he decides himself, and doesn't do any jobs for anyone unless someone he cares about is in harm's way. That's the Xavier she knew. Though, if her theory was correct, who exactly is being threatened?

There was only one answer.

 _Ninjago City, 12:15 am_

Xavier ran into the alleyway as fast as he could, nervous that he may be too late, and what was to come. He stopped when he saw a hooded figure standing at the other end of the alley, whose fiery orange hair shined in the little moonlight that fell into the alleyway. He thought he could see him smiling.

"Oh Xavier, time's up," the hooded figure sang as he approached the master of time. Xavier stood still, trying to not look nervous.

"Do you have the crystal?" the hooded figure asked him. Xavier hesitantly shook his head.

"They got it away from me, but I'm sure your other guy can get it instead, right?" the master of time answered him. The hooded figure leaned into the moonlight, revealing his fiery orange hair yet again and his malevolent navy blue eyes. His expression showed that he wasn't too pleased with Xavier at the moment. When was Alex ever pleased anyway?

"Xav, your deal was that you'd get the Realm Crystal for me, and I wouldn't lay a finger on your precious little girlfriend," Alex said, glaring at him. Xavier cleared his throat.

"Yami is male, sir," he corrected Alex. The master of psion gave an annoyed sigh, mumbling a "whatever".

"Anyways, you didn't meet your deadlin-" Akex started to speak, but Xavier interrupted him, begging "Wait! Please give me a second chance! I assure you I'll get it this time! Please! Just don't do anything to Yami!"

The orange-haired man hesitated, then sighed. "Alright, Xavier," he said, then looked around as though he thought someone was watching them,"come here and I'll tell you. I can't talk out loud with the cops crawling all over the place."

Xavier nodded and walked over to Alex as he pulled off his hood. The master of psion placed a hand on his shoulder, then looked at him.

"Alright, listen, here's the deal..." Alex started to say, his voice trailing off suddenly. Xavier started to grow nervous.

"Is there something wro-" Before the master of time could finish, he felt a sudden sharp pain in his stomach, causing him to gasp. Alex jerked his other arm, smirking as he pulled his hidden blades from Xavier's abdomen. The crimson-haired man continued to gasp and clutch his stomach, trying to stop the blood from gushing out of his body. His eyes were wide, as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Bet you didn't see that one coming, did ya master of time?" Alex smiled. The master of psion laughed manically as Xavier fell to his knees, struggling to stay conscious and stay alive. He noticed that he was losing a lot of blood, and now losing time too.

"Y...you.." Xavier struggled to say, looking up at the laughing man. He couldn't finish his sentence though. He could feel himself slipping out of consciousness slowly. _No! I can't die yet!_ his thoughts shouted, but he couldn't deny it. He was losing blood too fast. Tears started to fall from his eyes as he thought of his fiancee, and the friends he had betrayed earlier today. Who would tell Yamikani? Who would make sure he's okay? Who would bring the news to everyone? He would never get to say goodbye to Yami. He would never get to properly apologize and say goodbye to his friends. He would never see them again.

He fell onto the ground, staring up at the moon as tears streamed down his face. This isn't the way he wanted to go. Dying of blood loss in an alleyway with no one knowing except his killer. This isn't the way anyone wants to go, but Xavier had to accept his unfortunate luck, as he'd rather take it than someone innocent.

"I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye everyone. Maybe I'll see you all again," Xavier whispered as his consciousness started to slip into darkness. A smile came to his face as he ran through his memory, from when he was a child up until yesterday. All the lives he had changed. He had made an impact, and that's all he needed to know. He had done something good for this world, and now it was his time to go.

He smiled one last time before closing his eyes forever, satisfied with the impact he had made on others' lives.

 **18-9-16**


	8. Chapter 8

_Steep Wisdom, Northwestern Ninjago, 12:30 pm_

"That'll be two dollars, sir," Lilly told the old man standing in front of the counter where she stood. The balding old man nodded and slowly searched for money inside his knapsack. _Must be a tourist or traveler,_ Lilly observed in her thoughts, noticing the knapsack. It was pretty often that travelers visited this area, most likely to get glimpses of the traditional villages and the ancient cultures that still existed far from the City. The village she was from would get visitors all the time because of the mountains that surrounded it, but visitors would often complain about the cold or come unprepared, causing them to get frostbite and try to sue the village. Lilly didn't really loathe tourists, but she only disliked the ones that were rude. Luckily, this old man wasn't one of them.

"What teas again, sir?" Nya asked as she started to reach around the shelf.

"It was gyokuro and matcha," Lilly answered her before the old man could, remembering what he ordered. Nya nodded and cautiously pulled the pots of gyokuro and matcha off the shelf. She poured the matcha power into one bag, and put the gyokuro in another, making sure the two teas didn't mix. At the same time, the man laid three coins the counter, each one worth a dollar. Lilly picked up the third coin, giving a confused look.

"Um sir, your tea is only two dollars. You gave us three," she informed him. The old man nodded as he picked up his two bags of tea.

"It's a tip, keep the change," he smiled before turning to walk out the door, "Now you two young ladies have a nice day."

As the door shut behind the man, Lilly stared at the coins, bewildered. Why did he give us a tip? she thought to herself. She heard Nya giggle.

"Not used to getting tips during your shift?" she asked, noticing Lilly's bewildered expression. The blonde shrugged.

"I just didn't understand why that guy gave a tip. We didn't do anything special," she told Nya. The new master of water leaned on the counter and picked up the coins, looking through the holes in them like a telescope.

"Well, sometimes it's just for having good service, or just a random act of kindness. Tips do support us much more after all," Nya informed her as she put the coins down. She was silent for a moment, then groaned.

"Thank god that whole traitor thing is over. All the rumors were going to drive me crazy!" she sighed. Lilly nodded in agreement.

"Not to mention that Jay was starting to go insane from it all," the blonde added. Nya nodded.

"Yeah...I'm still a little disgusted about what Nathan pointed about Jay though," she said, looking a little angered.

"The fact that Jay stares at you inappropriately sometimes?" Lilly asked her. She nodded.

"Just...he knows I'm uncomfortable with that! Yet, he does it!" she ranted. Lilly shrugged again, not showing any anger towards Jay's actions.

"Well, when it comes to me I just ignore stuff like that. It happens rarely to me though," she said. Nya sighed.

"Yeah. That's you though. I'm different. I'm very uncomfortable with it," she argued. She went and set the pots of gyokuro and matcha back on the shelf, nearly knocking over a pot of oolong in the process.

"So...who did you think was traitor?" Lilly asked Nya. She remained silent for a moment, then returned to the counter.

"To be quite honest, I thought it was Jay. He was just acting too bizarre," she admitted. Lilly nodded in agreement with her confession.

"He was indeed. Though, he did get me thinking on how Kai and Nathan could have been it. Nathan did defend his side though," Lilly said. Nya gave a look of surprise.

"You actually thought Kai could have been it?" she asked. Lilly made the hand gesture that indicated that she somewhat did.

"I just heard the thing from Jay about Kai not reacting to the Christmas stuff and I just found it pretty odd," the blonde explained. Nya rubbed her chin.

"Yeah, that's pretty weird. Huh, usually I'm the first one to notice the weird stuff about my brother," she said. Lilly shrugged for the third time.

"You can't catch everything," she said as she put the coins away.

"I guess so," Nya sighed, pulling a broom out from under the counter. Lilly stared down at the counter as the new master of water sweeped the floor.

"Hey, you think Jay will apologize to Nathan for everything?" she asked. Nya looked over at her.

"He better and he will. Jay isn't one to forget to apologize anyway," she claimed. Lilly nodded, hoping she was right. The blonde started to walk into the living room, uncovering the hilt of her katana she hid under her shirt. She had been carrying her katana with her since day one of the traitor ordeal, and was quite pleased that she didn't have to use her weapon during it. She didn't even pull it from it's sheath yesterday during Xavier's attempt at stealing the Realm Crystal. It was a little risky wearing it during her shifts in the tea shop, as it may scare away customers, but she didn't care. All she had to do was hide it beneath her shirt.

With Nya in the tea shop, Sensei Wu and Misako working in the tea farm, and her friends out in the City, Lilly took the time to bask in the peace and quiet that filled the living room, but that tranquil period did not last long. After a few minutes, she heard a loud _crash_ come from the hallway. Her head turned in the noise's direction and she placed a hand on the hilt of her katana. _What in the world could that be?_ she thought to herself. None of her friends are inside, except for her. She would have seen them come though the door.

She creeped silently into the hall, looking for anything that may be out of place, keeping a hand on her weapon's hilt. She listened for any other strange noises besides the crash, and only ended up being startled by the sound of her own footsteps. She blushed slightly, embarrassed but relieved that no one saw her act stupid like that. Though, she discovered a few sounds coming from Sensei's room that sounded like rummaging. _Is someone going after the Realm Crystal again?_ Lilly thought to herself.

She tiptoed to the door and peeked in, expecting to see a thief or maybe even Xavier. Instead, she found Kai standing at one of the shelves in the room, looking at something. Lilly removed her hand from the katana hilt and opened the door fully, breathing a short sigh of relief. Though, she didn't understand why he would be in here. He was supposed be with the others.

"Kai, what are you doing in Sensei's room?" she asked, startling the red ninja. He looked back at her, then smiled.

"Oh, I'm just cleaning Sensei's room for him. You know how elderly people have trouble cleaning a lot of things...sometimes even themselves," he replied, making a disgusted face after saying the last statement. Lilly raised an eyebrow. Kai never cleaned anyone's room, or anything for that matter. About the only thing he would clean up was himself. That's it. _Well, he could be trying to be a bit more helpful with chores_ , Lilly thought to herself. She proceeded to the enter the room to look around and see that everything was in place.

"I'll help you with it then. I've got nothing better to do," she said, walking over to the shelf, causing Kai to move over a bit. Lilly could see that he was holding something, but she couldn't tell what.

"I don't need help. I'm fine," Kai insisted as he looked at the shelves. Lilly shook her head.

"You can get things done much faster when there's multiple people working on something, so I decided to help you. You probably want some extra time to mess around with your hair or model in the mirror or something," she said as she organized the books on the shelf. Just as she was about to move the next book, Kai grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"I said I'm fine. I don't need your help. I don't care how I look," he said in a much more serious voice. The smile on his face had faded, leaving a small scowl. Lilly knew something wasn't right. Kai always cared about his looks no matter what, and the only time where he wouldn't want someone helping him is when he's spiking his hair or fighting someone. The blonde glanced at the thing he was holding, which he was trying to hide beneath his jacket. She could see a whitish-blue glimmer coming from the object, and there was only one thing in Sensei Wu's room that emitted such glimmer.

"Kai, what are you doing with the Realm Crystal?" she questioned him in a quiet voice. Could it be that Nya really didn't catch everything and Xavier isn't the true traitor? _No, he's probably just holding onto it while he's cleaning or something,_ Lilly thought, scared of what the actual truth on who the traitor is may be.

The red ninja looked down at the crystal, then back up to her. He was smiling again.

"Oh, I was just holding it while I was cleaning. Let me go put this back," he said, letting go of her wrist and turning to another shelf. She watched him do what looked to be putting the crystal back, but then he halted. Suddenly, he turned and swung his blade, to which Lilly responded quickly by pulling her katana from it's sheath and clashing blades.

"Kai! What the hell!?" she shouted. The red ninja looked surprised.

"Damn, you're faster than I thought...no matter," his voice was now slightly distorted, making him sound similar to Morro. Lilly was starting to become scared now, as distortion in his voice wasn't normal, nor was him attacking her. He swung his sword a few more times, and she blocked them all.

"Kai, please stop! I'm not in the mood for a duel right now!" she shouted as their blades clashed again. Was this even a duel!? she thought to herself. Kai was exerting more force on the sword and her when their blades clashed than he ever has. There was definitely something wrong with him.

"Hate to break it to ya, but I'm not him," the red ninja's smile grew as Lilly remained confused.

"Then, if you're not Kai, then who are you!?" she questioned as she fought back. "Kai" started to chuckle as skin turned from tan to a very pale tan. He blinked and revealed that his once chocolate brown eyes were now a glowing red. Lilly stared at him, fear and surprise evident in her expression.

"Let's just say I'm a better and stronger version of him," "Kai" smiled. He then produced a second sword from his sleeve, causing Lilly's eyes to widen. She ducked, avoiding the other blade and made a beeline for the door, running as fast as she could. She didn't want to fight him, especially since he looked like Kai. Though she claimed that she yearned to do so in earlier times, she never wanted to point a weapon at the master of fire, let alone fight him with one.

She was stopped abruptly when she felt a sharp tug on her ponytail.

"Now, where do you think you're going? I don't believe we're through talking just yet," she heard "Kai" say, before she was thrown by the ponytail into one of the shelves. Lilly groaned from the pain of the impact. He swung his sword again and she rolled away immediately, letting the sword get stuck in the floorboard. She, then, unleashed a jet of water on him, causing his hair to become soggy and fall over his eyes. Seeing this as a perfect time to try to knock him unconscious despite how reluctant she was to do it, she ran towards him, ready to hit the back of his neck. Before she could though, "Kai" turned and caught her by the neck.

"Nice try, but I already told you that I'm nothing like my clone. I don't let wet hair stop me," he said, slamming her into the wall. He then placed both of his swords at her throat.

"Listen, I'll make a deal with you. You keep this a secret, and I won't slice your neck open. Deal?" he offered. Lilly had no choice. She either accepted or died right here. Both she knew weren't going to end well, one way or another.

"Deal," she accepted quietly. She'd have to find a way to tell her friends this though, without "Kai" knowing. The imposter master of fire smiled.

"Good. Just remember that if you tell anyone, I won't hesitate to stick a sword in your chest. I'd hate to have to kill another pretty face though," he told her, not yet pulling the swords away from her throat. _"Another"?_ Lilly thought, _Who did he kill!?_

He finally released her, the swords slipping into his sleeves. Before he walked out, his skin reverted back to the color it was before and his eyes returned to brown. He put a finger to his lips and walked out, leaving Lilly sitting on the floor. She looked around at the artifacts now knocked off the shelf, and pillow where the Realm Crystal used to sit. Her thoughts were a jumble of "What the hell just happened?" and "What do I do!?", leaving her staring blankly at a wall. Though, one thought stood out out of all of them. _If he's not Kai, then where's the actual Kai?_

 **20-8-5-25 4-9-19-1-16-16-5-1-18-5-4 20-8-18-5-5 25-5-1-18-19 1-7-15**


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: I just realized my dumb lil self made a timeline error in the code for last chapter. It was supposed to be "6-15-21-18" instead of "20-8-18-5-5". Oops.**_

 _Steep Wisdom, Northwestern Ninjago, 1:19 pm_

Lilly slowly got up, still a little shaken up over what just happened. Her back ached now from being thrown into the shelf, and her scalp hurt from getting her hair tugged on. She walked to the middle of the room, picking up her katana and carefully placing back in it's sheath. She gently pulled the band out of her hair, her ponytail diminishing into a wavy mass of hair. She hoped that if she got rid of her ponytail her scalp would stop hurting.

She walked out of the room, her thoughts still filled with questions about the impostor. _Where is the actual Kai then? How can his impostor look exactly like him!? Who created this fake Kai? Why didn't any of my techniques stop him!?_

Her thoughts then shifted to the impostors to deal. She was to not tell anyone, or she would surely die. Though, couldn't she just tell someone when he wasn't around? Just then, a lightbulb went off in her head _. I'll tell them when he isn't around!_ She started to walk faster, a look of determination. _Yeah! That's what I'll do!_

Almost immediately, an upside down face appeared in front of her, causing her to gasp in surprise. "Kai" hung upside down on the ceiling, a smart alec smile on his face.

"Ah, now what are you up to?" he asked, his eyes narrowing as if he could see into her thoughts.

"How are you hanging from the ceiling like that?" Lilly asked. "Kai" looked up at his own legs, then gave an upside down shrug.

"I honestly have no idea. This just happened," he said, "Anyways, back to our topic."

"I'm just going back into the the tea shop. I'm sure Nya doesn't like working the counter by herself," Lilly answered him, covering up the fact that she was either going to tell Nya or Sensei Wu. "Kai" narrowed his eyes again, then his lips curved into a mischevious smile.

"Smart answer, Blondie. You really would have fooled my clone," he said, "but you cannot fool me so easily."

He reached out and touched her face, causing her to step away, now extremely uncomfortable with this fake Kai touching her. She glared at the impostor, who's smile did not fade.

"Please try to keep your end of the bargain. It should convince you even more when I tell you another secret," he told her.

"What secret?" Lilly questioned with a bit of curiosity. The impostor chuckled.

"Eager to know, are you?" he smiled, "Well, I won't hold it back from you."

He adjusted himself as if he were sitting in a chair, then sighed.

"You see, I have these friends than can look exactly look like your teammates, just like how I can look just like Kai. I asked a few of them to come by sometime, but I can't tell you who's who, so I recommend you don't tell anyone our little secret. You never know which one isn't who they seem, and if you tell them, they tell me, then I'll have to cut you. Got it?" his smile was starting to creep Lilly out now. Especially when it accompanied the words "I'll have to cut you". The blonde slowly nodded in understanding, afraid of what would happened if she didn't show any reaction or shook her head.

"Good," the impostor's voice was no longer as serious, "Keep that in mind. I'll let you return to whatever you were doing now."

He tried to curl himself up so his hands could reach the ceiling, but ended up falling off of it instead. He landed with a thump on his back, then glared at the ceiling.

"Pretend you didn't see that," he told her as he got up. She didn't respond, watching the impostor get up and walk casually out of the hallway. She grumbled under her breath, her plans now ruined _. He could have just been lying_ , Lilly thought, but his words seemed serious.

She decided to not risk it. She'd rather not try it than possibly end up dead. He didn't specify who was being impersonated either, causing more bad luck to fall upon her. _Why couldn't I just live in peace for just one year!?_ she shouted in her head, frustrated with her situation. _Why couldn't this be easier!? Why is this imposter a clever asshole!_?

She sighed, sounding exhausted. "Might as well play along."

 _Ninjago City_

I followed the others to Xavier's shop, Zane leading the way with the directions he was given from Lilly. I tagged next to Nathan, who seemed to be in a better mood than he was yesterday. He refused to look at Jay though.

Making sure that my friends couldn't really hear us, I spoke to Nathan in a whisper, "Everything okay between you and Jay?"

"What does it look like?" Nathan replied in a slightly peeved whisper. I took that as a no. He then made a disgusted noise, cringing. "Ugh, my mouth still tastes like lilac from Hunter making me eat soap."

"He made you eat soap!?" I questioned in a louder whisper.

"He just made me wash my mouth out because I cussed a whole ton. It's a thing our family did sometimes," the master of water explained. Having to stick soap in your mouth sounds pretty gross to me, but I guess it's an effective way to teach someone not to do something? I don't know. Different things work in different ways.

"So, uh, while you were shouting at Jay yesterday you were asking if it was wrong to like someone after he said you were staring at Sammie. Were you admitting you like her or?" I asked. Nathan cheeks became a light shade of red immediately.

"I said that out loud!?" he exclaimed, catching the attention of our teammates. Hunter gave a look of curiosity.

"Said what, Nathan?" he questioned.

"None of your business," Nathan replied immediately, the shade of red on his cheeks growing darker from the attention he gained. Hunter raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" he responded. Nathan crossed his arms and nodded, his cheeks still as red as the skin of a tomato. The orange ninja paused for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face, as if he knew more than his brother.

"Alright then...I'll just find out later," he said, turning around with the others. Nathan let out a sigh, his cheeks returning to the light red shade from earlier.

"Yeah, okay, I like Sammie a little, okay? I didn't mean to blurt that out though. That was supposed to stay in my head," the light blue ninja admitted to me in a whisper, "Just keep this a secret, okay?"

I didn't understand how this could stay a secret since he said it aloud yesterday, but I nodded anyway. I'll keep his secret and tell no one, unless he wants me to. That's how I was with everyone else. I'm too anxious that the owner of the secret will find out to tell anyway.

Nathan smiled, looking much better than he did yesterday. "Thanks Karma. You're a livesaver."

I nodded with a smile. "No problem."

We all entered Xavier's shop, seeing no sign of the master of time. All we found was his shop neatly organized, and Yamikani scarfing down some spinach, looking quite stressed. The news blared on the TV nearby the stressed man, showing scenes of a recent traffic accident caused by a flying droid.

Yami looked at us with wide eyes, then jumped up immediately.

"I'm so sorry you all have to walk in on this scene! I've just been worried so much and-" the master of time's boyfriend exclaimed and talked quickly. Jay put his hands up, a bit overwhelmed.

"Hey, hey. Calm down and talk slower, please. We're just as on edge as you are," he told the man calmly. Yami took a deep breath, shaking and hugging himself. Jay slowly put his hands down, watching him.

"I'm sorry...I'm just really worried..." Yami apologized. The master of lightning nodded.

"I understand, but please try to stay calm, okay? If you're acting extremely anxious and jumpy, I will become the same way, which will make my body crackle with electricity. Since I'm the master of lightning, I have the unfortunate luck of producing tons of electricity when anxious or excited, which can lead to me electrocuting someone. I really don't want that to happen right now," Jay explained to Yami, who seemed more calm now. The man nodded in understanding, his bright, orange eyes still reflected his worry though. I waited for Kai to barge in on this conversation and ruin what Jay had done, but I was surprised to find that he wasn't even with us. I walked over to Lloyd and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Where did Kai go?" I asked in a whisper.

"He turned back for Steep Wisdom a few minutes before we reached the City. He said he forgot something," Lloyd answered in a whisper. I gave a sigh of relief at the information. There was no chance he'd ruin this all now. His skills at trying to get information and negotiation skills are horrible. I saw enough of that at Ronin's old pawn shop in Stiix.

"So, as I can tell, Xavier did not come home last night, correct?" Jay asked. Yami nodded as he took another bite of spinach.

"He's usually always home before nine. This is the first time he hasn't. I'm honestly scared something bad happened to him, and the news reports keep making me nervous," he informed us. I walked to the table where he was originally sitting and picked up the TV remote. My thumb hovered over the "power" button.

"If it makes you nervous, why don't you just shut the TV off?" I questioned. Yami darted over instantly and took the remote from my hands, his eyes wide.

"Don't shut it off! They could have found something on Xavier!" he cried, hugging the remote. I sighed. Yami was _this_ worried then, huh?

"Yami, they wouldn't have anything on him unless he was dead. But I seriously doubt that will happen. He's probably on his way home now," I smiled, trying to reassure the poor guy. He remained silent for a minute, staring at the floor, then a slight smile came to his face.

"Yeah...Xavier could be ho-" his words were cut off then the theme for "breaking news" blared from the TV. It showed an alleyway that was blocked off by crime scene tape, and looked to be filmed live. A middle-aged news reporter stood to the left, who I knew as Gayle Gossip.

"This morning, we reported on a finding of huge amounts of blood in an alleyway just south of Ninjago City's museum. Despite no body being found, the victim has been identified and is believed to be dead. Their identity will not be released to the public until tomorrow and the suspect in this crime has yet to be identified," the news reported said, a serious look on her face.

"How do they know it's a murder or crime scene, Gayle? I believe you reported earlier this morning there was no weapons or fingerprints found at the scene," the news anchor reporter asked.

"The detectives received word from a passerby that they saw a strange figure enter the alleyway last night, then disappear without a trace. He also thought he heard strange laughter, though he thinks it may have been a drunkard just walking by," Gayle informed the anchor, keeping her serious face on.

"Thank you, Gayle. We'll keep a track on this developing story," the news anchor replied, the TV cutting back to a shot of the handsome anchor. I turned to look at Yami, who was now trembling. Does he think that was Xavier? It couldn't have been.

Suddenly, the phone on the table rang, startling Yami. He walked quickly over to it and answered it, starting with a calm and polite "Hello?"

A smile came to his face immediately after. "Oh, hello Mrs. Erland! It's been a while since you've called!"

He nodded once, the smile still on his face, but then it quickly started to fade. A shine that was in his eyes when she called disappeared, and the expression he was showing told me something was wrong.

"Oh...y-yes Mrs. Erland. I'll be there tomorrow...d-don't worry...I'll be okay," he spoke in a quiet voice, "Okay...G-goodbye Mrs. Erland. See you tomorrow."

Yami set the receiver down, trembling more than ever. His eyes were now wide, and his face was frozen in a sort of shock.

"Is everything okay?" I heard Cole ask. Yami showed no reaction. Instead, he paced in a circle, his expression still frozen in shock.

"It can't...no...she's playing a prank on me...everything's fine...it's okay...it's..." I heard him mutter, his voice trembling. I walked over to Yami, but didn't touch him. I allowed him to continue pacing.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" I asked, concerned. He stopped in place, now staring at the floor.

"I..." Yami started to say, but his voice trailed off. He then collapsed onto the floor, proceeding to sob into the carpet loudly. I hurried to his side, kneeling down beside him. I heard the others run up immediately.

"What happened?" I asked again, concern in my voice. Yami moved over and wrapped his arms around my neck, now sobbing into my shoulder. I didn't move and allowed him to cry into my shoulder, not minding how my shirt sleeve was starting to become soaked with tears.

"Karma...Xavier...he..." Yami started to say with a trembling voice, "He...he was the...the blood on the news...that was him..."

I froze, my eyes widening from the news. That blood...it belonged to Xavier!? How!? Couldn't he travel in time!? Couldn't he have gotten himself out of that situation!? More importantly, who is the one who made him bleed!? Who is the killer!? Several thoughts were running about in my head, making me feel like my brain was going to explode. Despite not knowing this man for very long, strong feelings of sadness blossomed in my heart. I couldn't help but feel denial too at the recent news.

Xavier really was dead, and all the things I had said to reassure Yamikani were lies. Lies I was unaware of.


	10. Chapter 10

_Ninjago City, Unknown Building, 9:20 pm._

Alex walked down the hall of the building, exhausted after disposing of Xavier's body somewhere far from Ninjago. No one but the possible citizens of that land would find it, and Alex would never get caught. The master of Psion smiled to himself as he took off his bloodied hoodie, making sure the white undershirt underneath it wasn't stained. _Yeah, I'll actually get off scot-free this time. They'll probably suspect some of the bigger criminals like Soto or maybe even Marléne. That ought to get the old hag off my tail._

He went to his quarters and changed into a crisp white shirt and black pants. Owning no other footwear, he had to stick with his now bloodied leather boots. He pulled his fiery orange hair into a small ponytail, checking himself out in the mirror afterwards. After striking a few poses and rubbing the medium-sized bandage on his cheek, Alex exited the room, preparing himself for whatever stupid thing Marléne had to say to him today.

He met Marléne in the hallway outside a locked room. She looked pretty peeved, and glared in his direction.

"What?" Alex asked as he approached her. She placed both hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently.

"You were supposed to exterminate Xavier discreetly! The media's all over the blood in the alleyway now!" she shouted angrily. Alex sighed, annoyed.

"Listen, as long as I'm not caught, I'll be fine," he told her. Marléne huffed.

"You know, with the new technology that Cyrus Borg loser gave the detective agency, they'll be able to trace DNA from your shoeprints somehow. It's how they almost arrested Seok about a year ago," she reminded him. Alex shrugged. Marléne proceeded to sigh again.

"Might as well get on with what I wanted to tell you," she started, catching Alex's attention, "I...am thinking of going a separate way."

The master of Psion was first shocked, then proceeded to break into laughter. Marléne gave a look of confusion, bewildered as to why he was laughing.

"What's so funny!?" she questioned him as he continued to laugh. The master of Psion took a moment to breathe and calm down, then he cleared his throat.

"Marl, I am the only thing keeping you out of the big house right now. If it weren't for me, you'd still be rotting away in there, probably getting makeshift tattoos on your arms from some random prisoner," Alex claimed as Marléne gave an offended look, "What makes you want to part anyway?"

"Oh, I dunno, maybe because you do everything your way and not take any opinions from me!? When am I going to get to do something!?" Marléne answered.

"In time. You just need to learn how to be patient," Alex told her as he turned towards the button that would open the door. Before he could press it, Marléne grabbed his head and slammed it into the button. The door opened almost immediately, but Alex stepped back, rubbing his head.

"What the hell!?" he asked, enraged. Marléne shrugged casually.

"I thought your brain wasn't functioning correctly so I thought I'd help you out," she smiled, "It's too bad your stupidity is permanent." Alex glared at her.

"I'll have you know I came up with a lot of plans for Sebastian! He even had me eliminate Misaki!" he argued as he walked over to the door. Marléne rolled her eyes.

"That first one is a huge lie and you know it, and you were trembling when he gave you the gun to shoot her," she reminded him. Alex stomped his foot.

"Yeah, trembling with excitement!" he claimed, hiding the truth. Marléne sighed.

"Alex, I hope you know Sebastian only kept you around for your powers," she told him. The master of psion's head turned in her direction almost immediately, anger evident in his eyes.

"Shut up!" he shouted at her, "He treated me like a son and you know it! I was worth much more than just my powers on his team!"

"Just keep believing your fantasy, Alex. It blinds you from the reality," Marléne said, walking into the room. Alex followed her, flashbacks of the past playing in his mind _. What did she mean I was only used for my powers? I did lots of things to impress Sebastian._

Though, Alex remembered that Sebastian only noticed two of the things the young man did. _Well, I did create machines and stuff, and Sebastian really cared about me! He treated me like a son!_

Then, Alex's thoughts recalled all the times that Sebastian only really looked like he cared. All of which happened during times Alex's powers were needed for use. He then recalled all of the machines he created, none if which were used. Only Marléne's machines were used.

The master of psion resisted the urge to throw something, though, the small lamp on the other side of the room started to move by itself _. Just forget it. He's dead. You're the one in charge now. You can use all of your inventions!_

Alex smiled to himself and the lamp stopped moving. _Yeah, that's ri_ g _ht_! He started to walk faster to the cage in the middle of the room. _I can be a better person than Sebastian._

He stopped a few feet from the cage, gazing at his prisoner. The prisoner at on the floor, cross legged, his once spiked hair was now flattened and it fell over his eyes. His clothes were slightly dirty from the dust from the floor and his hands were bruised from trying to break the bars. Alex was satisfied to see that his powers didn't melt the bars either, showing that the flame resistant formula he used to make the metal bars worked.

The prisoner's head tilted upward a bit, acknowledging Alex and Marléne's presence.

"Haven't managed to melt the bars yet flame boy? What a pity," Alex said, tapping on the bars. The prisoner scowled.

"What do you want now, Debbie?" he asked, obviously not too pleased with the master of psion. Alex grumbled at the nickname.

"Just came to check on you. Make sure you're not dying, since you're especially useful to us," he replied.

"How?" the prisoner asked. A smirk came to Alex's face.

"Well, I've got this little project and your flames are quite useful, as well as your friends' powers...well, except for that blonde one. I only need the crystal from her hand. Other than that she can die in a hole for all I care," he informed him. The prisoner stood up immediately.

"No one is dying. Not on my watch," he claimed. Alex chuckled.

"Really? Is that so? Because, if I recall right, your clone is going to be taking care of that real soon," he said. The prisoner brushed his hair away from his face, revealing angry, sleep deprived brown eyes. Alex could now see the jagged scar that ran across the prisoner's right eye.

"What clone?" he asked in a angered voice. The master of psion smiled again.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! We took a strand of your hair while you were unconscious a while ago and used it to make a whole new you. A better version of you. He's with your teammates right now. He even got me this," Alex informed him, pulling the Realm Crystal from his back pocket. The prisoner's eyes widened. "What a gentleman," the master of psion continued to admire the Crystal.

"How did he get that to you!? Sensei told me someone watches over it twenty four seven!" the prisoner said, shocked. Alex rubbed his chin.

"Well, your double did say he fought someone...some blonde girl...oh yeah, your dear girlfriend. The one with the crystal embedded in her hand," he told him. The prisoner's eyes widened then he stepped closer to the bars.

"Did he hurt her?" he asked. Alex shrugged.

"All I can tell ya is that she's alive," he said. The master of psion could see what looked like smoke coming from his prisoner's hands, which were wrapped around the metal bars. _So his body heat does rise when angered_ , Alex thought to himself.

"Well, Keith, I must be on my way. I have important things to do, like checking on what your double is doing," he said. Kai stomped his foot in anger.

"It's Kai you idiot! And what kind of things would he even be doing!?" he shouted. Alex shrugged.

"Oh, I don't know. He could be doing tons of things to your friends, your girlfriend, and hey, maybe even your sister," he smirked. He could see more smoke rising from Kai's hands. Alex's smile grew wider, seeing that he angered the master of fire.

"Let me out of here!" Kai shouted as Alex and Marléne left the room. Once the door shut behind them, Alex broke into laughter. _This was great! If he can generate this much heat, he could power the machines! I just need one more person now! Then, not only Ninjago, but the world shall be mine!_

Alex smiled to himself. _Yes, soon._

 _Steep Wisdom, 8:30 am_

I struggled to not run out of breath as I jogged down the pathway nearby Steep Wisdom with Lilly and Lloyd. My lack of sleep was making me lose focus, and now I could barely even stay awake for anything.

"Karma, are you sure you don't need to stop for a break?" I heard Lloyd ask. I shook my head in response as I continued to jog.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to push yourself too hard," Lloyd said, a bit of worry in his voice. I looked over at him and gave a smile of reassurance.

"I'll be fine, okay? I'm just a little off my game today," I told him. The boy hesitated for a moment, then nodded, a bit of worry still in his expression _. What's he so worried about? I'm fine. Why did he even ask if I needed a break? He knows I can run without stopping for a long time_ , I thought.

I suppose he must have noticed that I looked tired or something and decided to be polite. It's quite nice of him...but I'm fine. The only thing that was bothering me was Xavier's death and the questions that remained on what would happen to Yamikani, but I didn't bring them up for Lilly's sake. She looked pretty torn up over the news last night, but none of us have seen her cry or even talk about it yet. She's probably keeping everything to herself or something, like she usually does.

I looked over to see her looking around for moment, then saying "Uh, guys, can I talk about something?"

Both of us nodded in response. Before she spoke, she looked around again cautiously, as if she were afraid someone was spying on us.

"Listen," she whispered, "something's not right."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Someone's really odd...like _trés mal_ odd," she said. I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Lilly, we don't speak French," Lloyd reminded her. Lilly started to look nervous.

"Like, I don't...I think they are-" mid-sentence, Kai ran up and cut her off with a kiss on the lips. In almost an instant, Lilly's face turned as red as the skin of a tomato. Once he pulled away, he smiled.

"Hey, Misako said she needed you back at the tea shop. She said something about needing help," he informed her. I noticed that Lilly wasn't smiling back. In fact, she even looked a bit frightened. What's the deal with that?

"O-Okay," her voice trembled. She followed Kai to the tea shop as he turned back and waved at us. Both Lloyd and I looked at each other, both of us confused by Lilly's expression. Why did she look so scared?

We sat down in the grass by the pathway, taking a break from our jog.

"Did you see her expression?" Lloyd asked me. I nodded.

"She could have been caught off guard by Kai's actions, but she would have recovered quickly...I wonder what that was all about," I said.

"Maybe there's something going on between them?" the green ninja asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's changed her. Didn't you notice how weird she was acting when she was trying to tell us something?" I asked. Lloyd nodded.

"Yeah, definitely odd," he commented, rubbing his chin.

"I want to ask her about it...but at the same time I don't know if I should. I mean, if there is something bad going on between them, they definitely need talked to, but I feel like I'm overreacting," I admitted. Lloyd shook his head.

"No, you're not. If it looks serious enough that they need talked to, ask her. See if she's alright. Though, something bad between them would be out of character for both of them," he said, stating at the path as he tried to think. I nodded. It would indeed be odd for the both of them. Something weird was definitely going on, and there was only one way to find out what was actually going on.

I was going to ask Lilly about it. Though, I had to find a time when she is alone. It shouldn't be too hard, but that's what I thought.


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: This A/N most likely has no significance to you guys but I'd just like to say that at this time (and I will probably post this chapter then) my birthday is two days away (11/22)! Woohoo! (Written 11/20)**_

Despite caring very much for my best friend and trying desperately to catch her alone, I never got the chance to since the incident. No matter how many times I tried throughout the day, she was always really busy. I even tried waiting in our room, but she didn't show up until eleven, then she'd go right to sleep, and there was no way I was waking her up. You have to have a death wish for that. Lilly isn't too pleasant when she is woken up. Trust me, I've done it before and I'll never do it again.

At this point, I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't have the energy to pull an all-nighter just so I could catch her in the mornings, and I couldn't even find her around Steep Wisdom some days. It made me wonder what she was doing exactly. It wasn't usual that she'd be away from Steep Wisdom a lot. I started to feel stressed from the fact that I couldn't stop my friend at some point in the day just to see if she was okay. I even started to feel sort of upset with myself.

"I'm not sure what to do anymore. She seems impossibly to stop and talk to now, especially since she isn't around the tea shop as much anymore," I told Lloyd one evening as we sat on the rocks in the small garden by the pond. The green ninja slowly drained energy from the weeds in the garden, killing them and stopping them from coming back in a slower way. He seemed to be listening, despite his eyes being closed. I munched on a piece of cabbage, waiting to see if he could give me any advice. After a few seconds of silence, Lloyd opened his eyes, revealing one emerald green iris and the other a light red.

"Well, you could try to see where she goes when she leaves in the mornings," he suggested. I sighed.

"I don't really have the energy to pull all-nighters just to wait for morning. I'll fall asleep easily," I said.

"Have you tried an alarm clock?" he asked. I shook my head.

"None of us own one, since you destroyed the last one. I doubt Zane would appreciate functioning as one either," I responded. Lloyd rubbed his chin, looking down at the wilting weeds.

"Well, I guess I do have one way to help you stay up all night," he said. I perked up. He has a way!?

"What is it?" I asked.

"Hold out your hand," he responded.

"My hand?" I asked. Lloyd nodded and I slowly extended it out. He then gently took my hand in his, causing me to blush. Geez, as if things weren't awkward enough days ago!

"How...does this-?" I started to say, but Lloyd cut me off.

"Remember when I said I could take energy from anything? I can also give energy too. I'm giving you the energy from the weeds and a bit of my own. Though, I didn't think it could make someone's cheeks red."

I suddenly felt really embarrassed. He can see my blush! At least he thinks it's from the energy and transfer and not because...well...

"Oh...I didn't realize my cheeks were red. At least they aren't as red as Lilly's can be," I giggled nervously. Lloyd chuckled.

"Yeah, she is quite the tomato," he smiled. I silently waited for him to let go of my hand, just to end the awkwardness, but it seemed like it was lasting a while.

"Is the transfer slow?" I asked. Lloyd nodded.

"Yeah, it can take a while. It's much faster if I'm draining someone though," he informed me. I could see a small pink blush starting to grow on his face as we sat there. _So, he's probably thinking this is awkward too,_ I thought to myself. Maybe if we talked about something other than this it wouldn't be so awkward? It was worth a shot.

"So, how's your training in becoming a sensei going?" I asked him, changing the subject. The small smile that lasted on the blond's face began to fade.

"I...don't know. It's kind of stressful because I have to act all wise and stuff like my uncle, but I don't want to," he admitted. I placed my other hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, come on, I _did_ say a month ago you don't have to act all serious when you're a sensei. I'm sure your dad cut loose every now and then," I reminded him. He sighed.

"I know I know, but being a sensei is all about being a leader and a teacher, being wise, being responsible, and being strong. I can't be all of those at once, Karma! I...I just want to be me," he told me. I gave a sympathetic look. Why does he think he can't be himself!?

"You can still be yourself Lloyd. Hey, you're even already all of those things combined! You just need to go easier on yourself, that's all. Don't expect yourself to be the perfect sensei. I'm sure Sensei Wu doesn't follow those codes all the time," I told him. Lloyd still looked a little down.

"I still think they're expecting me to be perfect, and I fear I may fail training," he admitted. I felt really sorry for him. He's most likely feeling really pressured by someone or Sensei. I wrapped my arms around Lloyd's neck, pulling him into hug. I tried desperately to not intensify my blush, but it couldn't be helped.

"You're fine enough as is, Lloyd. You are you, and that's perfect enough. I believe you can pass the test. I believe you will become a great sensei, just like your father," I told him in a gentle voice. It was almost the same speech I'd give anyone, but I didn't care. All that mattered right now is that I'd make him feel better.

Lloyd was silent for a few moments, then I felt a hand on my back.

"Maybe I will..." he said. I wanted to shake my head. I pulled away, sitting across from him.

"Not maybe, you will. You gotta have determination. You have to believe, because we all believe in you," I encouraged. A small smile came to Lloyd's face.

"Okay. I'll do it," he said. I smiled. Nothing like a good ol' small encouragement speech! Though, I had to give myself the same determination to stay awake until morning. I believed I could do it, but it would depend on what fate had planned for me as well.

 _Destiny's Bounty, Steep Wisdom, 8:47 pm_

Zane sweeped the floor of his old room in the Bounty, listening to Pixal tell him her stories about her creator, Cyrus Borg. He adored the sound of her voice and enjoyed her company, but something bugged the android.

"Is something the matter, Zane?" Pixal asked from the corner of big screen that was his vision. Zane sighed.

"I just wonder why your creator has not built you a new body. Do you not tire of being restricted on what you are able to do?" the nindroid asked. Pixal shook her head.

"I am fine, I enjoy being in your system. It brings us closer than we were before," she said with a grin. Zane did not return the smile.

"I know, but I miss being able to touch you physically. I yearn to do that again, just like I did a year ago before my first form expired," he admitted. Pixal looked to the nonexistent wall to her right, her smile fading.

"I...wish the same sometimes, but it is unfortunate that the parts that make me are very expensive as I am a recent model," the gynoid informed him, looking forward again. Zane frowned.

"But Mr. Borg is one of the richest men in Ninjago right now, is he not?" he asked. Pixal nodded.

"He is, but he wants to take care of the City before he takes care of his personal things, like me," she told the nindroid. Zane looked at the floor which he was sweeping.

"Then I shall make it one of my goals to get you a body," he said. Pixal smiled.

"I would like that," she said, looking much happier than before. Zane smiled as well. He calculated that it could take a long time before he could get all the parts to assemble her a new body, but he was determined that he could do this. If Mr. Borg can't do it, he will.

Suddenly, Zane heard the door to the room open. Pausing his sweeping, the nindroid looked to see that Kai had entered the room. The nindroid greeted his friend as he entered the room, slightly bewildered as to why he would be in this room. Kai made a small wave and started searching through a bookshelf that sat in the room.

"Do you need something?" Zane asked.

"Eh, I think I left something in here. I hope you don't mind if I look through here," he answered, already searching through the shelf. The android couldn't really say "no" now.

"Go ahead," Zane told him, before resuming his sweeping. As he continued cleaning, Zane noticed that Pixal seemed a little anxious. _What possibly could she be worried about? t_ he nindroid thought to himself. His friend was no threat. There wasn't anything hiding in this room. What possibly could be the matter?

"Is everything okay, Pixal?" Zane asked her. She turned in her medium-sized box to look at him while still catching glances of the master of fire.

"Zane, I think there is a problem with your teammate. When he entered the room, I conducted a small scan on him and found that I could not detect his heartbeat. Usually this only happens when he has consumed large amounts of alcohol," she informed him. It wasn't rare for Kai to do something like that, but it wasn't common either. He would usually only drink around holidays, especially Christmas, unless something happened to make him do it. Zane glanced at his friend. His speech wasn't slurred earlier and he wasn't acting loopy. The only odd thing was that he was searching through the nindroid's bookshelf.

"Did you detect any alcohol in his system?" Zane whispered to the gynoid in his system. Pixal shook her head.

"No. There's nothing in his system. This is most peculiar," she replied. Peculiar indeed, Zane thought. He stopped sweeping and approached his friend.

"Kai, is everything alright?" he asked. The master of fire looked at him, revealing something Zane hadn't noticed before. The scar that was usually over his right eye was now very faint, which was extremely odd. Zane remembered that it was usually very easy to see, as it was a deep one. He could tell there was something wrong with his friend immediately.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why ask?" the master of fire answered.

"Your scar, I clearly remember it being very easy to see. Are you wearing makeup over it?" the nindroid asked. Kai made a slightly offended look.

"No. Do I look like Jay!? I don't wear makeup," he answered, before turning back to the bookshelf. Zane could clearly see the issue now. Either his friend is lying to him...or this person isn't Kai. He felt like the first choice was much more likely than the second.

"Brother, are you sure it's not makeup? You don't have to be ashamed about it," he said. His teammate glared at him.

"Zane, I'm not wearing makeup! Will you shut up about it!?" he shouted. Then, something caught Zane off guard. His friend's eyes had become a glowing red. The nindroid backed away, whispering to Pixal "Activate defenses and hidden weapons."

"Kai" took a moment to realize part if his true form had been revealed, then he chuckled.

"Ah, you don't know how hard it is to stay concealed the whole time," he said, stretching and letting his skin become it's true pale color.

"What exactly are you?" Zane questioned, letting a sai hidden in his left arm plate pop into his hand. "Kai" smirked.

"Awww, you don't remember me and the guys from four years ago? Oh wait, that's right, you 'died'," he reminded the android. Zane saw Pixal wince at the reminder of his first form's expiration.

"Where is the actual Kai then!?" the nindroid questioned. The imposter's smirk did not waver.

"I'm afraid that information is confidential," he claimed, before pulling a small throwing knife from his pocket and throwing it into the side of Zane's neck, one of the android's more vulnerable spots, within a split second. Zane stumbled, then popped the other sai out of his right arm plate. He blocked the impostors next attack, and pushed him to the ground. "Kai" continued to smirk.

"Wow, you're much faster than that blonde girl. Not that I'm impressed though, you're just a machine after all," he said. Zane's expression became angrier. _Just a machine!? I am much more than that surely!_ , Zane shouted in his head.

"I am much more than just some nuts and bolts!" the nindroid shouted, attempting to pin the imposter to the wall with his sais, and unfortunately failing. "Kai" kicked him into the wall and quickly opened his torso panel. Before he could even flick the switch below the nindroid's core, Zane grabbed his arm and twisted it until he heard a snap. "Kai" cried out in pain, bringing a relieved smile to the nindroid's face. I've stopped him! Zane cheered in his head. His smile quickly faded though when the imposter's scream turned into laughter.

"You think that will stop me!?" he said, before his fist connected with one of Zane's eyes, shattering it. The nindroid's grip loosened and "Kai" wrestled his arm free. Before the android could react again, he quickly flipped the switch under his core, the light behind the android's eyes fading. "Kai" brushed a hand on his shirt and sighed.

"Now that that is over," he started. He moved over to Zane's head and opened the panel on the side of his head. "Alex should have taught me enough about this stuff for me to grab the right thing."

He pulled a pure white flashdrive from the nindroid's head and pulled out his memory disk. Using a device similar to a tablet that was hidden in his belt during the fight, he connected the disk to the tablet and ran the program. He deleted the last six minutes of memory from Zane's disk before taking it out and putting it back in the android's head. "Kai" placed the flashdrive in his pocket with care, making sure not to damage it.

He closed the nindroid's head panel and looked at the switch that he had used, which was 'sleep'.

"He should wake up in an hour or two," he whispered to himself as he closed the torso panel and proceeded to exit the room, leaving it a mess. His second task was finished.

 _Destiny's Bounty, 11:59 pm_

Zane slowly powered back on, feeling his shattered eye. He looked around at the messy room with bewilderment. _What happened?_ He proceeded to get up and walk around, looking at the misplaced books, the broken broom, and a shattered vase. The nindroud couldn't help but feel like he was missing something, but didn't know what.

"Pixal, what happened while I was unconscious? What happened to my eye?" he asked the gynoid that was supposed to be within his system. He started to feel worried when he didn't hear her respond.

"Pixal? Pixal!?" Zane called trying to see if she just didn't hear him the first time, but then he realized what he was missing when he looked for her in his system. Pixal was gone. She was nowhere to be found within his system.

"PIXAL!" he screamed in the quiet room, breaking it's silence. It wasn't too long ago that they were reunited after being apart for a while, and now they were apart again.

Zane got up, pulling the throwing knife from his neck. He walked out of the room, worry flooding his senses. His friends had to know what happened, they have to know where Pixal is. Though, what if they didn't know?

Zane shook his head. _No, they_ have _to know._


	12. Chapter 12

I laid in my bed staring up at the ceiling, waiting for the night to end. Lloyd had said before I returned to the shop that the energy he had given me was enough to keep me wide awake the whole night, and seemed to be doing just so as of right now. I felt as though I had drank energy drinks, except I wasn't bouncing off the walls from all the caffeine. Though, there was a downside to this. There wasn't much I could do, considering that it was the middle of the night, and everyone was most likely sleeping. I can't watch TV, and I'm afraid if I even try to tiptoe down the hallway to go do something, I'll make some loud noise that will wake everyone up. It's just best that I stay in my room.

I sighed and looked over at Lilly, who's back was turned to me. I listened to the small, quiet snore that escaped her and watched the small twitches her shoulders made in her sleep. I then turned back to staring at the ceiling, shaking my head. I'm supposed to have stopped that creepy habit of watching people while they sleep, but I couldn't help it. There was just something interesting about what they do while the sleep, whether it be talking while they sleep or if they run in their slumber. I needed stop this though, so my friends don't think I'm a creeper like my uncle. I _really_ don't want to be like him.

I looked over at my alarm clock, which read 11:30, then sighed. I have about eight hours until the estimated time that Lilly wake up. What am I supposed to do until then!? I tried desperately to think of something to do, but I only ended up receiving those random thoughts you get at nighttime. You know, the ones like "Why are oranges called oranges?", "Why was the ninja team first red, blue, white, and black and not red, white, black, & yellow?", and "Is my life actually just a story planned out in someone's head and they control everything I do?". Yeah, those ones.

As I looked deeper into the jumble of thoughts that overflowed in my mind, I found one that reawakened my feelings of embarrassment and slight awkwardness. Does Lloyd like me? Do I like him? Well, of course we do platonically, but romantically? I covered my face with my hands, groaning quietly in a reaction to my own thoughts. There was no way he likes me in that way. I mean, he is young after all, but not much younger than me. We're only four years apart.

Though, I guessed it could be a possibility, considering my own feelings. He might like me in that way, or he might not. The only person who knows is Lloyd himself. Though, as for myself and my own feelings...

I hugged myself, turning onto my side. No, I can't possibly like him that way. I denied it all immediately. There's no way. He's my best friend. If I liked him in that way, it would ruin our friendship...wouldn't it? I felt like it would.

Though, when I thought about relationships like my parents' and Lilly & Kai's, it just seemed like an advanced level of friendship with romance as a bonus and the possibility of spending the rest of your life with the person. It was the kind of level only certain people could unlock with you. So, would something like this really ruin our friendship? Do I really need to keep denying my feelings or let them blossom? What do I do!?

I tried to think, but all I could see was the things that happened through the year. The worry and care I had felt for him, the anxiety I felt when he was possessed, the hugs we shared, how we helped each other with our personal issues, that awkward moment a few weeks ago, the question Lloyd was going to ask, the small blush on his cheeks, all of it. It was the same way I thought of my friends...except now I was resisting the urge to hug him every time I saw him...and maybe even resisting the urge to k-

I could tell it immediately. I really do like him in that way. I really do...love him. I couldn't deny it any longer, but why did I think it wasn't true? Was it anxiety? Or the fact that I'm afraid of being brutally rejected again like I was in middle school?

My cheeks warmed from the acceptance of it. I felt as though a tiny weight had been lifted off my chest, making me feel a little better. Though, the memory and anxiety of being brutally rejected hung over me still, reminding me of the day in middle school my confidence was shattered to pieces. I'd rather not share this story, though. I fear I may fall into a depressed wreck again if I tell it...or even think of it now.

Though, the thoughts of it forced itself into my mind anyway. _Remember the way that boy looked at you? The way he belittled you? The way he laughed?_ My thoughts tormented me. As if the recurring nightmares with Luo and Morro weren't enough...

I began to curl into a ball, much more worried about myself than anything, though something broke me from it. The sound of a door slamming startled me, causing me to uncoil from the ball I had curled into. I cast a glance at my alarm clock to see that it was 12:03 am. Who's doing that at this time of night!? Though, just before my feet could touch the cold floor, I could hear Zane shouting. I was instantly alarmed. Zane wouldn't just be shouting for no reason at night! There's something wrong!

I hopped out of my bed, grabbing my staff from my shelf in a flash. Then, I opened the door and snuck down the hallway as silent as a snake. When I came to a corner in the hallway, I was set to roll to the next wall until I remembered that my pajamas are a nightgown. I stared down at the skirt of it, instantly hating it. Always, in the worst of situations, I have to be wearing a skirt that doesn't have trousers with it! I seriously wonder how most of those TV heroines manage to do it! Seriously, how!?

Knowing that this could be a serious situation and walking away could leave someone dead, I decided against going back to my room and getting trousers. No one's gonna see me anyway, since I think I'm the only one that heard Zane shouting. Without a sound, I rolled to the next wall, then slid to the one across from it. I flattened myself against the wall and listened, while making sure the skirt of my gown didn't become a parachute within that time.

After hearing nothing, I peeked into the living room, only seeing the tips of Zane's shiny, metallic hair behind one of the chairs. I walked slowly into the room, still alarmed. I had to stay on guard, even if this is my friend here.

"Zane, is everything alright?" I asked in a whisper, approaching the chair. The android turned to acknowledge me, revealing a shattered eye in the moonlight and a small dent around his eye. He looked distressed, a look that I rarely ever see.

I kneeled down on the floor next to where he was sitting, now noticing that the side of his neck was cut. I felt worry immediately. Who did this to him!?

"Zane, what happened!?" I asked in a whisper. His remaining eye shifted to the floor, it's light blue glow now dim.

"I...do not remember. All I know is that Pixal is gone and that I was assaulted in some way," he answered in a quiet voice. My eyes widened. Pixal? Gone? But how!? Didn't she live in his head now!?

"Karma, could you please open my head panel and see if the white flash drive that carried her is still in there? I want to make sure she didn't...expire within my mainframe," he asked. I nodded and slowly opened the panel on the right side of his head, and discovered something that could upset him. Her flash drive was nowhere to be found. I sighed. Looks like I'm the bearer of bad news, the thing I've always hated to be.

"I'm sorry Zane, she's nowhere to be found," I told him, giving a sympathetic look. The nindroid grimaced, looking as though he may cry.

"When everyone's awake, we can try looking for her, okay?" I told him. His upset look did not fade.

"Why can we not look now?" he asked, looking at the floor again. This poor guy...

"Well...we'll have more people. Besides, I know certain people kill when waken at this time of night," I said, rolling my staff away. Zane nodded slowly.

"That is true...and probably would be the most logical way to do this," he agreed. I nodded.

"As for now, I'm going to stick with you in case that person who attacked you comes back," I informed him, taking a seat by him and bringing my staff closer. Zane gave me a bewildered look.

"But...are you not tired?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Lloyd transferred me a ton of energy this evening, so I probably won't be sleepy until the return of evening," I explained. The nindroid still looked confused.

"But why did he give you it?" he questioned.

"I meant to catch Lilly in the morning so I could talk to her about something I was suspicious about, but I can do that tomorrow. I hope Lloyd doesn't mind if I ask for more energy tomorrow..." I informed the android. Zane shrugged.

"I do not think he will mind. He likes holding your hand," he informed me. My cheeks grew hot instantly. Likes!? Holding!? My!? Hand!? What!? My thoughts were now a complete and utter mess. No way. No way!

"H-How can you be so sure?" I asked, trying to not sound excited or even embarrassed. I probably failed miserably.

"He writes in a journal from time to time and I like to read it. He wrote something about that in there today. Please do not tell him I read his journal," Zane informed me. I began to feel even more energetic than before. Does that mean Lloyd likes me too!? Or does he just like my hand!? Or is this just a dream!?

I spent the rest of the night with my jumbled thoughts and my nindroid friend, who had shifted into sleep mode so he could stop worrying until morning. Though, despite that revelation from Zane about Lloyd, my thoughts were still heavy about what was wrong with Lilly, and now with Zane's gynoid girlfriend missing. One thought stuck out in my mind though. The one thought that may split the team again.

Who assaulted Zane?


	13. Chapter 13

I was running. Where was I running to? Where was I? Was anyone with me? None of these I knew. All I knew was that I was being chased. Who was I being chased by and why? I didn't know any of that either, and I didn't dare look behind me. Turning to look back would only slow me down, and I needed to get as far away from my pursuer as possible.

"Luo!?" I screamed into the blackness that surrounded me as I ran. I looked around frantically for my dear sister, hoping to at least find a glimpse of her and get away from the person or thing chasing me. "Luo!? Where are you!?"

Suddenly, I could spot her beginning to appear in the distance. I could see her wavy, black hair, and the dark red shirt I remember seeing her wear a lot. I began to feel a wave of relief rush through me. "Luo!"

She turned to look at me, her beautiful brown eyes full of surprise. "Seiko?" she said quietly, as if she were shocked to see me.

I reached out for her, feeling safe. "Luo! I-"

Before I could finish speaking, I crashed into an invisible barrier separating the two of us. I began to feel panic, knowing my pursuer could not be far. I banged my fists against the invisible barrier, calling for my sister.

"Help me out of here! Please! Someone is after me! Luo!" I cried, trying to break barrier, but she didn't hear me. I hit my fists on the barrier several more times before I was stopped unwillingly suddenly. I tried to cry out to my sister again, but I couldn't open my mouth. Really, I couldn't do anything but listen to the thoughts in my head. I was frozen.

Suddenly, a knife appeared in my hand, and I could now feel the presence of what I believed to be my pursuer behind me. I wanted to scream for help, but I couldn't even try to open my mouth.

"I'm trying to help you. Just do what I tell you," I heard an all too familiar voice command me. Being granted the ability to move my eyes, I looked to my left to see midnight black hair accompanied by a bright green streak flowing in the nonexistent wind. I felt panic rise inside me. _No, not him!_

"You need to stab her. It's the only way you'll be freed," he claimed. Being granted the ability to speak now, I declined immediately.

"I'm trying to help you!" Morro exclaimed, taking me by the shoulders. His glowing green eyes were full of anger, beginning to remind me of the day I was possessed.

"No! I refuse!" I screamed. How would it help me!? Killing people only hurt me! It didn't heal me! How would it heal anyone!?

I could see Morro's mouth moving now, but I could only hear combined screams of different people. This situation had intensified out of nowhere, leaving me feeling like my head was going to explode. Though, at the same time, I wanted to scream and cry out. I wanted to escape. I wanted to get away from the noises, since I was starting to hear my friends screaming, but I couldn't. I couldn't move. There was nothing I could do. I began to cry from it all. The screaming, the nonsense, the confusion, everything. Even the fact that my own thoughts were beginning to not even make sense anymore.

Then, I could hear someone saying my name within the screams. I looked around frantically for the voice's owner, but I woke up before I could see who's it was.

"Karma...wake up," I could feel a cold, metallic hand gently shaking my shoulder, causing me to shiver in response. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling a single tear run down my face. I wiped it away from my chin quickly, brushing some of my hair out of my face in the process.

I looked to see Zane at my side, wearing a concerned expression. His eye was still shattered, though it emitted a dim blue glow. I sat up, adjusting myself so my back was flat against the wall.

"Did I fall asleep?" I asked my nindroid friend, knowing the obvious answer already. He nodded to confirm my answer, causing me to sigh. I was supposed to stay up all night.

"You may have fallen asleep out of boredom, despite the jolt of energy Lloyd gave you. Though, it looks like it triggered a terrible nightmare," Zane informed me. I shook my head. It was a nightmare, but I've had worse. Ever since I saw Luo's dead body and heard that bloodcurdling scream while under possession, 85% of my dreams have been nightmares that were centered around it. This was the third time Morro had appeared in my dreams though.

"It wasn't that bad," I claimed, shrugging it off. Zane still looked concerned.

"Karma, you were crying while you were sleeping and looking quite distressed. Are you sure it was not a bad one?" he asked, expressing worry. I nodded.

"Please do not worry about me. We have bigger things to worry about anyway," I said, getting up. Zane paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay, I am just making sure. Jay has nightmares that make him do these things too, but his are very bad," he informed me. I gave a small look of surprise. Jay having terrible nightmares? That's something that I wouldn't think would happen to him.

"He does?" I asked. The android nodded.

"They are the reason why he is so paranoid and quick to judge when it comes to situations like the traitor one. Hence why he accused Nathan almost immediately. Though, I have no idea what goes on in his dreams," Zane explained. I had to admit, I felt sorry for Jay now. It's no wonder he judged Nathan so quickly, his dreams left a deep scar on him, changing how he thinks. I tried to imagine what my dear friend could be experiencing in his nightmares, but I couldn't. What I've witnessed can't be anything close to what he's seen.

"We should probably wake the others and share what happened last night. They may know what happened to Pixal," Zane suggested, helping me up. I nodded in agreement, beginning to walk to the hallway. I picked up my staff on my way, shifting it into it's dormant form. Though, as I walked, I couldn't help but wonder why someone would abduct Pixal. She's but a computer program with a slight personality now. You'd expect Zane to get abducted instead, since his body is titanium and the fact that his core is made of a special substance. Though, Pixal could have been kidnapped for a different reason than her capabilities. Perhaps it was to draw Zane into a trap? Or maybe they used the parts within the flash drive that carried her for their own creations? Or maybe they're using her capabilities against her will, making her do what they say...like what Morro did to me in February.

I shook my head as I started to walk faster down the hallway. _No! I'm not going to think about that!_ Though, I couldn't help but think. My mind forced me to. The way I could not move my own body, the barrier, the scream, the heartbreak that happened for no reason, not being able to call out to my friends, all of it.

I began to walk faster, shaking my head more furiously. _No...no...no...no...NO!_ I'm not going recall any more of these terrible times! I'm not going to fall into that dark hole again! I'm not going to cry! I'm not going to blame myself!

Though, they still picked at me as I opened the door to Lilly and I's room and walked over to my blonde friend's bedside. I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind as I shook my friend's shoulder gently, knowing I could get my hand ripped off for waking her up. I heard her grumble in response, and I continued to shake her shoulder.

"Lilly, you need to wake up, it's important," I said, now poking her face. She opened one icy blue eye in response, giving an irritated look.

"Zane called an emergency team meeting for something that happened last night. Everyone needs to attend it," I informed her. I heard her sigh.

"Give me five minutes," she mumbled, closing her eye. I nodded and stepped away, using the time to get dressed.

As I pulled on a simple purple hoodie and white shorts, the thoughts of what happened in February haunted me again. I was hearing the horrors again. My thoughts were forcing me to recall it all. I shook my head again. _No! I can't be thinking about this now! Zane's issue is more important!_ Though, these memories stayed, hiding in my mind, picking at me as I pulled my hair up into a bun. What a terrible time to be having these kinds of thoughts...

I met everyone (minus Lilly and the old folk) in the living room with Zane, who was being repaired by a sleep deprived Jay. I watched him place the brand new glass eye in the nindroid's eye socket, making sure to brush out any remaining glass before placing it inside. The master of lightning twisted the eye to the left a little bit, before a click sounded and the bright blue light filled the eye, giving Zane sight in his other eye again.

"Thank you, Jay," the android smiled, blinking a few times before looking around with the new eye. Jay nodded and stood up, scratching his neck.

"Since the wires in your neck weren't severed, there's no need to fix your neck at the moment, but it's a different story for the dents around your eye. I'm going to have to wait until Nya returns my tools to me before I can fix it though," he informed the nindroid, casting a slightly admiring glance at the female master of water. Nya smiled nervously.

"Er...it might be a bit before you get them, Jay. I'm kind of in the middle of a project..." she said, scratching her head.

"No worries. I'll figure out an alternative," Jay smiled, turning back to Zane, inspecting the dents.

"So, uh, what's the emergency meeting about?" Cass asked, looking at the dents around Zane's eye. The nindroid turned to look at her.

"I was assaulted last night and I have no memory of it. Whoever assaulted me also took Pixal and most likely tampered with my memory disks. I thought I would ask you all if you heard or saw anything last night. Anything that could trace me to the attacker," he told her, casting a glance at all of us.

"Wait, who's Pixal?" Sammie asked, looking confused. Zane must not have told them about his gynoid companion. The nindroid proceeded to tell the newcomers the story of Pixal, making sure to explain how she got into his head as well. Though, as he did, Kai came by and whispered "Hey, have you seen Lilly?"

"I tried to wake her up about five minutes ago. I don't think she'll get up until she desires to," I replied in a whisper. The master of fire sighed.

"Typical of her."

"You can go try to wake her up if you want, though, there's an 80% chance she'll kill a man if you do so," I told him. Kai shook his head in response.

"I'm not going to poke the sleeping bear."

Once Zane was finished explaining who Pixal was, he sat up and looked at all of us.

"Another thing to add on who the attacker may be: I scanned the doors and windows for fingerprints and only found fingerprints of everyone on our team. Unfortunately, my system does not show what times these fingerprints appeared on them, so I can not tell who did it. Everyone has touched the door to the Bounty's hallway at least once, so I can not trace that either," the nindroid informed us, staring at us all, "So, the traitor situation we thought was long dead was not dead at all."

Everyone looked at each other. Some with suspecting faces, others with worry or surprise. I immediately spotted the suspecting look on Jay's face that scanned us all, until his eyes fell on Nathan. The male master of water took notice of the immediately, and opened his mouth to defend himself.

"Jay, don't even-!" he began to say, but the master of lightning held up a hand.

"No, you're not a suspect...and I apologize for all that I've done before. I didn't pay much attention to my evidence and ended up wrongly accusing you," he said, "Now this time, I have actual evidence for the person I suspect."

"Who is it?" Nathan questioned. Before any answer could be given, I heard a yawn. Lilly walked in between Nathan and I, blinking. Jay's bright green eyes fell on her immediately.

"Sorry, did I miss anything? My hair was utter hell to brush," she said, looking around. Jay turned towards her, his suspecting look lingering.

"Where were you?" he questioned.

"Um, I just said I was brushing my hair, so obviously my bedroom," she answered, crossing her arms. Jay's eyes narrowed into a glare and he began to pace back and forth. The blonde looked utterly confused.

"Jay, what's your deal?" she asked. Jay raised an eyebrow.

"My deal!? What about your deal!?" he exclaimed. Lilly continued to look confused, as did most of us.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You don't think anyone noticed you leaving the tea shop everyday!? And no one has any idea where you had gone or why you return late!? Pretty suspicious if you ask me," Jay said, making Lilly's eyes widen slightly.

"Have you ever considered the fact that I have had to visit family everyday!?" she argued, starting to look peeved. Jay crossed his arms.

"But didn't you say your family lives in the mountains?" he questioned.

"I didn't specify which family," Lilly answered. Jay gave a bewildered look.

"You can't have more than one family, Lilly," he claimed. I saw my friend's eye twitch.

"That's what you think. You can have the family you're related to, but I have two other families. The family that took me in, and you guys," she said, "The family that took me in lives in the City. They were there for all the shit I had to go through before rejoining the team, now I have to be there for them in their time of grieving!"

Jay's eyes narrowed. "And how come you've never told us about this 'family' before?"

"Oh, I don't know! Why don't you ask Cole why he's never told us about Sammie before!?" Lilly exclaimed, gesturing to the master of earth.

"Good point, but I still have reason to think that you were the one that assaulted Zane," Jay rubbed his chin. Lilly began to look more exasperated.

"Are you serious Jay!? You know I'd never attack him! I know that Zane can take me down in less than five seconds and possibly even kill me! You know I wouldn't even be able to make that dent around his eye!" she shouted. Jay raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Zane never specified what exactly hit him in the eye," he told her.

"Jay, I do not even remember what hit me in the eye," the nindroid reminded his friend. Jay shrugged.

"It's still evidence," the master of lightning claimed. Though, before Jay could go farther with his argument, Kai walked over to Lilly and put an arm around her shoulder, glaring at Jay. Lilly gave a look of slight fright again.

"Have you ever considered the fact that she's not the culprit?" the master of fire asked. Jay groaned.

"Okay Kai, we get it, she's you're girlfriend, but you don't need to defend everything she does," the master of lightning told him. Kai smirked.

"Practice what you preach Jay, but that's not entirely why I'm defending her," he informed him, "Pretty much, I'm defending her because I know she's innocent and hasn't done anything wrong."

"How can you be so sure?" Jay questioned.

"Because it would be obvious if she did. Haven't you noticed how nervous she gets when she's done something wrong?" Kai answered. Lilly didn't add anything to the argument. Jay and Kai glared at each other for a few moments, then the freckled ninja huffed.

"Fine. Maybe we'll find more evidence later that will point to the culprit," Jay said, turning away from them. He began to leave the room, when suddenly the sound of something heavy slamming against one of the windows stopped him.

"The heck was that!?" he exclaimed, looking to the window behind Hunter. The orange ninja turned and looked at the window, gaining a confused look.

"Some bird is trying to break the window. I think it's got brain damage," Hunter informed Jay. Zane stood up immediately, rushing over to the window.

"Oh, it is my falcon!" he announced, opening the window and letting the robotic bird in. It perched itself on Zane's outstretched arm and cawed, looking at it's owner.

"Do you have something for me?" the nindroid asked the mechanical bird. It cawed a response and it's eyes glowed blue, similar to Zane's. It then turned it's head to an empty wall and started to project a blank screen.

"I want one of those..." I heard Nathan comment, staring at the bird in wonder. I had to agree. With a bird like that, I could send messages to my family much faster and be able to watch TV without having to fight Jay for the remote.

Suddenly, the screen switched to a scene of a darkened room. I could spot a few toolboxes and tables in the background that were littered with mechanical parts. Though, oddly enough, under one of the tables sat a pair of high class heels. We must be seeing video of a very odd person.

"Oh my god Marléne you turned the camera on too early!" an all too familiar voice shouted in the background of the video, confirming my thoughts. We were indeed seeing video of an odd person. An _extremely_ odd person.

Alex ran into view on the video, shooting a glare at whoever was to his left. "Warn me next time you old hag!"

He sighed, then looked straight at us. A fake smile grew on his face.

"Hello ninja! I hope you've enjoyed these past weeks of paranoia!" he said cheerily.

"We haven't at all," Cole responded, crossing his arms.

"Oho! So you all are aware this is a live feed! Great!" Alex continued to have a fake smile plastered across his face, clasping his hands. It sickened me.

"Well, let's get to our topic again. I'm sure you all are well aware that the Realm Crystal is missing, correct?" he asked, his fake smile becoming more of a villainous smirk now. I looked around at my friends. It's missing?

"Um, since when?" Lloyd questioned. Alex looked confused for a minute, then turned and facepalmed.

"Oh my god Marléne. The sensei didn't notice it was missing! We made this announcement for nothing!" he shouted to the woman off-camera. I heard a groan.

"Just continue on with it and quit bugging me you _cul_!" Marléne shouted in the background. Alex sighed, then reached for something off screen. He then returned, holding a sparkling Realm Crystal in one hand, and a white flash drive in another. Zane's eyes widened immediately. He rushed to the projection, pushing Hunter out of the way.

"Pixal!" he cried, looking extremely concerned. Alex chuckled.

"Great! I don't have to explain to you what this dull thing is," he smirked. The nindroid glared at him.

"How did yo-" he began to say, but Alex finished his sentence.

"Get her? Easy. Some shady guy sold her off to me. Judging by the dents around your eye, I'm guessing you two got in a scuffle. Such a shame you don't remember him."

Zane's eyes narrowed, and I could see the glow steadily becoming a darker blue. He's _really_ angry.

"Give her back. The crystal too," the android demanded the master of psion firmly. Alex chuckled again.

"To the point, eh? Well, okay. Lucky for you I have an offer," he said, "Tell you what, I'll give you guys these back if you can give me...a mech!"

Nya raised an eyebrow. "A mech? Not a person or money?"

Alex nodded, clasping his hands together. "Yes! A mech! I've always admired them. Unfortunately, I do not have the technical skill to build one for myself. So, if you guys can build one for me, I'll give these back. It doesn't even have to have anything special on it!"

Nya looked at Jay, then back at Alex. "Are you sure? Or are you just saying this to scam us?" she questioned, placing both her hands on her hips. The master of psion nodded.

"I'm sure, and you don't even have to finish it by the exchange date. All I need is a progress picture," he smiled. I felt that something was off about him, but at the same time, I felt that he could be trusted. Not all negative people you meet are untrustworthy, are they?

"Okay, when will we exchange items then?" Zane asked. Alex rubbed his chin.

"Well, since I'm actually kind of scared of this crystal, I want to exchange it tomorrow. Is that alright?" he asked. Nya sighed, then nodded.

"Sure. Where at then?" she asked.

"By the fire temple, if that's fine. It's the place closest to where I'm living," he suggested. Nya nodded.

"Okay, got it. We'll be there."

 **18-5-4 9-19 14-15-20 20-8-5 15-14-12-25 3-15-12-15-18 9-14 20-8-5 18-1-9-14-2-15-23**


	14. Chapter 14

_Ninjago City, Unknown Building, 4:30 pm_

Lilly followed "Kai" into the main room of the building, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets. She was told to come along, just so she wouldn't try to tell her teammates again. She sighed, feeling like she was being treated like a child. He should know she wasn't going to try to tell anymore, considering what happened back by the running trail not too long ago. She felt the side of her face, cringing a bit from the pain. _At least my hair covers it and no one questions it,_ she thought to herself as they entered the room, revealing a table with scattered mechanical parts and a laptop. A woman Lilly could barely recognize sat nearby it, fidgeting with a mechanical arm. She looked up, acknowledging their presence.

"Alex! _Il est ici!"_ the woman shouted to her right. Lilly could understand what she said perfectly, the language even igniting long lost memories within her mind.

"Marléne, you know I can't understand French! Speak English!" she heard Alex shout back. Marléne huffed.

"You know, I've said it so many times I thought you would understand. Are you telling me you're much stupider than you seem?" she retorted. The master of psion stomped into view, glaring at his comrade.

"No. You get ticked when I speak in Russian! How do you think I feel when you speak French!?" he exclaimed, crossing his arms.

"That's because I can't understand Russian!" Marléne shouted back. Alex opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and facepalmed. He turned towards the Bizarro ninja and Lilly, removing his hand from his face.

"Well, it's great to see you Re-" Alex began to say, but he stopped speaking once his eyes fell on Lilly. "You've brought a guest?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I just don't want my secret slipping out, and it seems she tries to tell everyone I'm away, despite my warning," "Kai" explained to the master of psion.

"Why don't you just kill her then? She's not of much use," Alex suggested as if she weren't there. _Honestly I'd have a much better time with this if he just did that instead_ , Lilly thought to herself, sighing again.

"I don't want to, yet. I believe she can have a lot of use once 'the day' arrives," "Kai" declined, leaving the blonde curious on what exactly he was talking about. _"The day?"_

"If you say so, Red," Alex sighed, turning away. "Kai" yawned.

"So, how's Blue and the others doing?" he asked. Alex shrugged, starting to walk to a hallway. Lilly and "Kai" followed.

"I'm having trouble getting Black to function. I'm afraid I may have to..." Lilly could see Alex drawing a finger across his neck. Whoever this Black person was, she felt sorry for them. Though, she wondered who Blue and the others were.

"Tsk, what a shame. I was looking forward to seeing Black in action. He looks like a tough guy," Red replied, shaking his head. Alex nodded.

"Yes. Unfortunately, cloning doesn't always work out," the master of psion sighed. Cloning? Lilly thought, Who is he cloning?

"So, uh, how's my 'best friend' doing? Is he poking your eyes out with his hair?" Red questioned. Alex chuckled.

"Eh, he tries. He's tried to melt the bars I don't know how many times now. I'm wondering when he'll realize that it doesn't work," he answered. Lilly began to become more curious. _Are they talking about Kai?_

"So...you cloned Kai to create Red?" she asked, catching Red and Alex's attention. The master of psion nodded.

"I did indeed. Though, changing his DNA around was a pain in the ass," he replied.

"So, yeah, basically this little dwarf is my creator," Red smiled, using his thumb to point at Alex. The master of psion maintained a smile, but his eyes showed that he was indeed offended by Red's comment. He shook it off and stopped at a door that had a glowing red button next to it.

"Might as well check on your clone, Red," Alex said casually, reaching to press the button.

"Wait. Could I...perhaps...talk to Kai?" Lilly asked, stopping Alex from pressing the button. The master of psion raised an eyebrow and he pulled his hand away from the button.

"Talk to him? Well..." his voice trailed off as he looked over at Red. The Bizarro ninja nodded.

"There's really nothing you can give away anyway, so why not," Red approved. Alex sighed.

"Well, okay. I'm only giving you five minutes though. Make it quick," he said, pressing the button. The door slid open and Alex gently pushed her inside. Once inside, she could see a cage-like structure with someone inside. She assumed this person to be Kai.

"Back again, Debbie?" he asked, not turning around. Lilly chuckled.

"Who are you calling Debbie, Porcupine?" she said in a much more positive voice than earlier. At the sound of her voice, Kai turned around, his hair covering half of his surprised expression.

"Lilly?"

"There's only one person you know with a voice like this," she smiled, kneeling next to the cage. The master of fire brushed his hair out of his face, revealing widened, shocked eyes.

"It...is you!" he exclaimed, hugging her through the bars, "You don't know how happy I am to see you..."

"I bet, considering how long they've had you locked up in here," Lilly said. Once he pulled away, his expression immediately turned to concern.

"Is Nya alright!? Is everyone alright? Has that clone guy done anything!?" he asked in a worried voice.

"Your sister is fine, I've been keeping an eye on her. He attacked Zane last night, shattering the poor guy's eye and taking Pixal and I got thrown into a bookshelf by him not too long ago," Lilly informed him, patting the back of her head, "but please do not worry. I don't think he'll hurt any of us for the remaining time."

She tried to give a smile of reassurance, but it only made Kai more concerned. Though, she could see rage hiding in his eyes. Then, she saw his eyes shift to the left.

"What happened to the side of your face?" he asked, reaching to brush her hair away from it, "It's all purple..."

She let him brush her hair away, but winced when he touched the bruise on the side of her face.

"Did he...?" he began to ask. Lilly sighed.

"It's nothing new. My mother has done worse," she said quietly, shivering at the memories that leaked into her mind, "It's okay."

She heard the sound of Kai's fist connecting with the floor and looked up. The fist that had connected with the floor was flaming, while the other was simply steaming. "No, it's not okay!" the master of fire shouted, then calmed his voice, "No one should treat you that way!"

"I just thought it was just the way my life was gonna go..." Lilly's voice trailed off as she looked away, the memories still swirling in her mind, reminding her of her childhood. Kai sighed and wrung both of his hands of flames. He then placed both hands on her shoulders, causing her to turn her head to look him in the eyes.

"That's wrong. You shouldn't let people treat you like that. You have to get away from people like that and stay away from them. Don't let them hurt you, Lilly," he told her in a much gentler voice. She began to feel conflicted.

"But...I'm sort of being forced to stay around Red...your clone...what do I do?" she asked. Kai blinked and looked at his knees for a minute, then looked back up at her.

"Try to avoid him if you can. If not, don't let him touch you. If he tries to hit you...this may sound like bad advice try to block it, okay?" he told her. Lilly nodded. A small smile came to his face.

"Your clone and Alex keep talking about killing me at some point. Honestly, I wish they'd just get it over with and spare me of all of this. It'd be so much better," Lilly sighed, leaning against the bars. Kai began to look concerned again.

"Come on, don't say that," he said in a reassuring voice. It didn't effect Lilly at all.

"It'd be so much easier. I mean, I wouldn't have to deal with my mom anymore, people wouldn't use my artificial powers against me, I wouldn't be used as a pawn, I wouldn't..." her voice trailed off as she struggled to speak, but she ended up breaking out into a sob instead. She leaned her head against the bars, sniffing and wiping tears from her face. Kai reached through the bars and hugged her, a sympathetic look on his face.

"But everyone would be devastated if it happened to you," he said, "Listen, Lilly, if you're having issues where you're feeling like these, you need to talk to someone. Like, talk to one of the guys or girls when you get back. I'd talk to you about it, but I'm stuck in here and I'm pretty sure you have a limited amount of time being in here."

She nodded, wiping her eyes again. The time she had left in here couldn't be much, considering how much time has passed. She couldn't help but feel like she wanted to stay longer.

The second she heard the door slide open made her jump, startled by how sudden it was.

"Hey, times up," Lilly heard Alex say from the door. She turned and nodded, then turned back to Kai. She didn't want to leave yet. She slowly pulled Kai back into a hug.

"Listen, I'm going to come back at some point and get you out of here, okay? I promise," she whispered as quietly as she could, making sure Alex and Red couldn't hear her. Lilly pulled away and Kai nodded in response. She whispered a goodbye, then proceeded to walk out of the room. Though, as she approached the door, she could hear Alex and Red talking.

"...Yeah, that's what I'll do. I don't care if there's over ten of them. It'll be an easy job if I can get Blue ready in time."

"Uh-huh. What about the old farts?"

"Are you kidding me Red!? It's like fighting a child going against them. Easy win."

Lilly couldn't really tell what they were talking about, but she felt it had something to do with her team. There really wouldn't be anything else they would be talking about. _They're talking about the meetup tomorrow, aren't they?_ she thought to herself. Then, she realized what they meant. _Easy win!? Easy job? Like fighting against a child? Oh god...he's gonna ambush us and try to kill them!_

 _The Next Day, Steep Wisdom, 5:01 pm_

I wrapped my magenta scarf around my neck carefully, making sure to not accidentally strangle myself or screw up the order of which scarf tail goes where. Once finished, I looked at myself in the mirror, admiring how I looked in my old gi. Gosh, it's been a while since I've worn this thing. It still fits as great as ever though!

"I'd wear the deepstone gi...but it's kind of heavy," I commented, turning to Cass, who was sitting on Lilly's bed. She and Sammie had decided to join us and talk to us as we all prepped to go to the forest by the Fire Temple, uncertain of what would actually happen. We were instructed by Sensei Wu to wear our ninja gi and carry our weapons just in case anything happens. Alex wasn't someone to put your full trust into anyway.

"They do look kind of heavy...but I think they look cool too," Cass commented, standing up and pulling on her fingerless, black gloves. Her gi was identical to Sammie's, with the only difference being the colors and symbols on their belts.

"Eh, I wonder how I'm going to sneak around with this color," Sammie said, looking down at her yellow gi. I shrugged in response.

"Well, Zane has snuck around in white...and pink. I think you can do that with yellow too," I told her. She sighed.

"I hope you're right. I don't wanna be known as the 'Highlighter Ninja'," she said as she pulled on her boots. I tried not to giggle at the nickname.

"Nah, you're more known as 'The Girl Who Nathan Accidentally Confessed to While Arguing'," Lilly commented as she adjusted her sleeve. Sammie's cheeks became pink.

"Yeah, I was supposed to keep that a secret, but when he blurts it out in front of everyone..." I shrugged. Sammie's cheeks started turning a darker shade of pink.

"Nathan acts like he hasn't blurted that out at all and hasn't talked to me about it. I'm gonna have to confront him about it soon," the master of light informed us as she brushed her hair off her shoulders. Lilly smirked and slid to her side.

"Oh, Sammie-senpai has come to confess to me!? Surely my heart shall explode!" Lilly mimicked Nathan's voice, giggling afterwards. Sammie's cheeks steadily became pinker. I decided to join in on the fun. It wouldn't hurt too much I suppose.

"Oh, Sammie-senpai, of course I'll kiss you under the falling cherry blossoms! It'll be just like in the movies!" I tried my best to mimic Nathan's voice, despite my higher pitched voice. I heard Cass and Lilly laugh.

"Let's dance this night away Nathan! Take me into your arms!" Cass mimicked Sammie's voice, accidentally falling on top of Lilly. The whole room broke out into laughter.

"Okay, that's enough guys," Sammie giggled, getting up. I smiled.

"We should mimic Lilly and Kai next," I suggested as I pulled on my gloves, snickering.

"Or, we could mimic you and Lloyd," Lilly shot back, making my cheeks warm intensely. Did she _have_ to bring that up!?

"Oho! That sounds interesting," Cass grinned. I had to change the subject.

"How about Cass and her slice of cake?" I suggested. The master of wind gave two thumbs up.

"I'm good with that," she agreed. Sammie gave a confused look.

"How do you mimic a cake?" she asked.

"Like this!" Lilly said, lying down on the floor and staying completely still. Cass giggled.

"I think that's mimicking a rock, Lilly," she said. The blonde shrugged.

"Close enough," she got up, brushing off her sleeves. At the same time, Nya opened the door to the room, peeking in.

"Are you guys done getting ready? It's almost time," she asked. I looked to the others, then nodded.

"Yeah, sorry, we were just goofing around," I smiled as I walked over to the door. Nya chuckled.

"You guys having fun without me as usual," she said.

"You don't have to be a stranger. Tag along with us any time!" I told her, still smiling. Nya made a tiny smile.

"I'd tag along if I'd get free time," she said quietly before leading us down the hallway. I felt kind of sorry for her, knowing that now she was going to be busy making a mech for someone we didn't entirely trust. If only she didn't have to make it for him.

••••••••••••••••••••••••

 _Forest, Fire Temple, 6:40 pm_

Lilly followed her friends through the forest, becoming much more anxious per step. Alex was going to strike and any moment with Blue and take out her friends. She could sense it. There would be no other reason why he chose this place out in the sea of trees to meet them. In fact, his words when speaking to Red had confirmed her fears. Her friends were going to die, but what could she do!? Red was going to kill her if she said even a peep about all of this.

Though, the thought of watching her friends die made her shiver. _No, I can't let that happen, but what do I do!?_ Her thoughts were conflicted, making her just want to freeze time and abandon it all. Just leave everything frozen where it is. Unfortunately, she was not Xavier.

She was left with only one choice. One choice that could save them, but as for her, her life was uncertain. Her life didn't concern her though. She was only focused on her friends' futures. She looked forward to spot Red leading the crowd. _This could go somewhat perfectly_. She first made sure her katana was still hidden in her sleeve, then she took a breath. _Here we go._

"Wait, guys," she spoke loudly, stopping everyone. Most turned to look back at her.

"What's wrong?" Cole asked. Lilly took another deep breath. _Come on, do it._

"You all have been lied to this whole time! Kai is not what he seems!" she shouted, pointing at Red. He began to glare at her, and she could see him reaching for something. _Go ahead, fight me asshole._

"Kai's the trai-!" Lilly began to shout, but was cut off abruptly by a sharp pain near her chest. She gasped, beginning to tremble. Her eyes widened as she felt a sharp object get pulled roughly out of her body, then she fell to the ground.


	15. Chapter 15

_Wait, what does she mean Kai isn't what he seems?_ I questioned within my thoughts. I turned to look at Lilly, who was standing a few feet from us all, trying to look as confident as she could. Though, just by her eyes, I could tell she was slightly uncertain, but very alarmed. _What's going on?_

"Kai's the trai-!" before she could finish speaking, two thin blades impaled her between her shoulder and breast. I immediately went into full panic and alarm.

"LILLY!" I screamed, beginning to run towards her, but Lloyd restrained me as I struggled.

"Karma, don't! You don't know who's holding those blades," he whispered to me as I watched my friend fall to the ground, clutching where she was stabbed. In her place stood Alex, who licked a bit of blood off his blades. That sick bastard.

"What a shame, I was looking forward to working with her," he gave a fake frown, then laughed. I prepared to shout something, but I was interrupted by Kai, who was walking towards Alex.

"No use keeping this disguise on anymore," he sighed, his skin, hair, and eyes changing color. His eyes glowed red, his hair was black, and his skin was much paler than Kai's. I was repulsed by the sight.

"What the hell!? You're not Kai!" Nya shouted, her look of horror becoming anger. The impostor chuckled.

"Great observation, Captain Obvious. Can you tell me more?" he said sarcastically, smiling. Nya pulled her katana from it's sheath, pointing it at the impostor.

"Where's my brother?" she asked in a much more serious voice. The impostor continued to smile.

"You're going to ask that? When your dear friend here is bleeding out?" he questioned, gesturing to Lilly, who was struggling to get up now. The fabric of gi was starting to become soaked with blood.

"Just because I care about family first doesn't mean I don't care about her! Kai's all I have!" Nya argued, still pointing her blade at the impostor. He chuckled.

"Okay, enough of this sappy family crap. I wanna get to the real main event here," he said, a blade similar to Kai's falling into his hand. Where the hell did it come from!? Did some bird just drop it!? Did he use magic!? Just...what the hell!?

He swung his sword towards Nya, causing Jay to act immediately. The master of lightning slid under his blade as quickly as he could and punched the impostor in the gut, adding a huge jolt of electricity with it. The impostor froze when he was electrocuted, but recovered immediately, taking a swing at Jay this time.

Lloyd finally released me and immediately ran towards Alex, who was fighting Cass and Hunter. As I ran, I extended my staff out of it's dormant form and into it's combat form, ready to take him on. I slid between Cass and Hunter and smacked Alex with the staff one time. Then, I kicked him out of the way, running towards Lilly.

"Are you alright!?" I asked with a concerned voice as she continued to begin to stand off. She shook her hand as if she were shooing me away.

"I-I'm fine. Don't worry...just go fight him," she winced as she held a hand over where she was stabbed. I could see the splotch of blood on her gi begging to grow.

"No! You need help! I'm not leaving you to bleed out!" I protested. She grumbled under her breath.

"Karma...just go. I told you that I'll be fine," she said much more firmly. I shook my head.

"I'm not leaving you!" I argued. Lilly sighed.

"Karma-"

"I'm not abandoning you and that's final! I'm not letting you die!"

"Maybe I want to die!" What she had shouted left me speechless. Though, she acted as though she had said nothing of the sort. She...wishes death upon herself? Why!? What would make her feel this way!? Is it something she's never told me about? Or something I already know of?

I looped her arm over my shoulders, beginning to try to get her out of here. Lilly didn't protest at all as I struggled to get her out of here. She was much heavier than I, but that shouldn't stop me. I'm strong, right? I think I am.

Though, when I tried to take another step, I ran right into someone.

"Aw, leaving so soon? But the fun's just beginning!" Alex smirked as he kicked me away. Lilly stumbled as I rolled to the ground, though, once I stopped rolling, I searched around frantically for Cass and Hunter. What did Alex do to them!?

"Now, as for you, I might as well be a nice guy and put you out of your misery," I heard the master of psion say, to which I turned my head quickly in his direction. He stood before Lilly, both of his blades extended. I could see Lilly beginning to slowly back away. "I'm doing you a favor."

He swung one time, aiming for her chest, but she dodged it, landing a punch on his face. It wasn't as effective as it usually was though, because he recovered quickly. Lilly must be losing her strength like how she's losing blood. Though, when she tried to land another punch, Alex pierced her arm with his blades, causing her to yelp in pain. Instant alarm and panic rose inside me.

I got up quickly, sprinting towards Alex. I instantly headbutted him in the stomach and used my staff again as a bat, knocking him away from Lilly. I didn't even bother to check on my friend (though I really should have.) and ran after him, feeling a sort of energy radiating from my hands. Does this have something to do with my powers?

I threw a few orbs of dark energy at him, with only one hitting him. He quickly attempted to fight back, swinging his arms furiously as though he were a dancer. Though, I was much faster. I was able to block all his swipes with my staff without missing a single one. Damn did I feel lucky!

Though, as we fought, I could see a grin growing on his face. It was that kind of grin where the person wither knows more than you, or has some sort of vile plan up their sleeve. Yeah, that kind of grin. I couldn't help but wonder what he was smiling about, and feel like I wanted to wipe that stupid grin right off his face.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt a strong tug on my scarf, pulling it off of my neck and causing me to turn the other way. Before I could turn around, I felt something hard hit me on the side of the head. I whipped around quickly, ready to take someone down. Instead, I was pulled forward by Alex. I expected him to headbutt me into unconsciousness...but instead he connected his lips with mine. I was immediately filled with extreme disgust. What the freakin' hell!?

Before I could react and push him away, he kicked me to the ground, smirking.

"You kinda owed me that a year ago. Good thing it serves as a distraction," he claimed triumphantly, satisfaction in his smirk. I was so disgusted. He just stole my first kiss from me! Something that was going to be sacred for me! That disgusting, desperate-ass bastard! I owed him nothing! Though, I suppose I had bigger things to worry about, I was still sickened by it. Good thing there's one thing he'll never take from me.

Immediately, as I started to get up, a bright flash of light engulfed the area, nearly blinding me. I covered my eyes as I heard Alex curse. I could hear the sounds of scuffling, and saw another flash of bright light. It had to be Sammie. Nothing else could produce light that blinding.

Once the light disappeared, I uncovered my eyes just in time to see Sammie suplex the master of psion, causing him to groan in pain. The master of light turned and stood over him, using a foot to keep him down. She held a kama in one hand, pointed at him.

"End of the line, buddy," she smiled victoriously. Alex began to look panicked.

"No. No. Nope!" he shouted, moving his hands in a motion before disappearing. Sammie looked around frantically for him, only to be left disappointed.

"He does that a lot," I informed her as I got up. She sighed.

"I see."

We walked over to Lilly, who was trying to stay on her feet. Her sleeve was now starting to become soaked in blood, and the huge red splotch on her gi had grown. She beginning to look pale.

"Come on, we'll go find Cass and Hunter and we'll find a way to stop the bleeding, okay?" Sammie said as she put Lilly's arm over her shoulder. The blonde didn't protest, nor did she even speak. She just simply nodded. I took her other arm, and as I looped it over my other shoulder, I felt something hard bump my shoulder. Curious as to what it was, I peeked into her sleeve to see that it was just her katana. I had forgotten she stores it in her sleeve.

"Hey, have you seen where everyone else went?" I asked Sammie as we walked. I was beginning to notice how quiet it was now. It was becoming eerie.

The master of light responded by shaking her head. "I've only seen Cass. I couldn't tell you where she's at now though."

We both looked around, searching for any sign of our teammates. I could feel a gust of wind run through the trees a few times, telling me that Cass or Hunter could be near. Though, this was beginning to remind me of something. Forest. Dusk. Fighting. Someone dying. A sense of danger. Feeling like you're being watched. All of it. It all reminded me of the night that I wish would stop haunting me. The night my sister died. Will this night end the same way, except with someone who isn't blood related? Luo's lifeless expression forced it's way into my mind and didn't leave. I could see the same lifeless face on almost all of my friends in my mind, leaving me fearful of what tonight's outcome may be.

After a bit of walking, we spotted someone waving ahead. It had to be Cass. No one else here wears a purple gi.

"Hey! There you guys are!" she shouted as we rushed up. I started to notice that a half of the leg for her trousers for her gi had been ripped away, leaving one of her knees exposed.

"Are you alright?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Yeah, but Hunter's leg isn't. Alex decided to make his leg a freakin' kebab," Cass gestured to Hunter, who was sitting by the nearest tree. His leg was bandaged in two areas, with the bandage being what looked like fabric from Cass's gi.

"That was quite rude of him, but I can still kick the crap out of him with my other leg!" Hunter exclaimed, moving his other leg. Well, that's one way to look at having your leg stabbed I guess.

"Is Lilly alright?" Cass asked as we sat her down beside the tree. The blonde looked pale now, but she was wide awake.

"She's still losing blood. That dingus Alex got her in the arm while you guys and Karma were trying to fend him off," Sammie informed them as she cut off half of a leg of her trousers with Lilly's katana. She took it and tied it around Lilly's arm first, making sure it stayed together with a firm knot.

As she started to patch up Lilly's chest, I turned to Cass.

"Have you seen any of the others?" I asked her. She was silent for a moment, then shook her head.

"Nope. I do remember seeing Jay sprinting off farther into the forest though. That was much earlier though," she recalled. That was a clue at least.

"Do you think they-" Before I could finish, Cole ran up, panting (although he's a ghost.). He didn't have a scratch on him, but he looked relieved to find us.

"Oh thank god, I thought you guys were dead," he sighed, showing a relieved smile. Cass raised an eyebrow.

"What made you think we were dead?" she questioned.

"I ran into Alex and he claimed he had murdered you all. I should have known it was too farfetched to be true," Cole explained, taking a look at us all, "Though, I see you guys didn't get away unscathed."

"Yeah...my leg still hurts," Hunter nodded, then glanced at Lilly, "Is she gonna be alright?"

"I think so. It doesn't look like she's lost a _lot_ of blood, but I'm afraid Alex's blades may have impaled one of her lungs," Sammie sighed as she tied the last makeshift bandage. Lilly looked just barely conscious. I sighed.

"Okay...and Cole, have you seen Nathan at all?" Hunter asked the ghostly ninja.

"I'm pretty sure I saw him following Jay and Nya. Though, I'm not sure if he's with Zane now or still with those two. Nya was going after that Bizarro Kai anyway," the master of earth answered, looking off into the trees. I took the time to adjust my scarf back to perfection, lasting feelings of disgust making me grimace as I rewrapped it. Oh, how I hate Alex now.

"You guys mind if I go look for them? I'll see if they've had any luck with stopping this impostor," I offered. Sammie nodded.

"Go on ahead, we'll stay back with these two," she smiled. I nodded and ran through the sea of trees, listening for yelling or any sounds of scuffling. I searched the ground and trees while looking for them, but only found a huge slash on one of the trees. Well, that was something at least. I moved ahead, in the direction where the slash was found, still searching.

After a couple minutes of running, I could hear someone shouting. The voice sounded similar to Jay's, but I couldn't really tell. I ran in the direction of the voice, extending my staff out of it's dormant form in case of emergency. I hurriedly climbed up a tree and hopped tree to tree, still following the sound. I stumbled on some branches a few times, but I recovered quickly, continuing my pursuit of the voice.

I finally stopped on a branch when I could see someone standing below. Beneath the trees, I could see Nathan, Jay, and Nya fighting the fake Kai. I crouched on the branch, trying to watch the fight to see where I could break in. I watched as Jay attempted to electrocute the impostor again, only to fail miserably and knocked unconscious. Nathan and Nya stood back, both taking defensive stances. The impostor just smiled. Okay...when is this nutjob going to quit smiling like a freaking psychopath!?

I watched Nathan and Nya combine their powers, attempting to wash him away, but that failed too.

"Thanks for the bath. It was unnecessary, but thanks? Really, the one who needs a bath here is you sir!" he exclaimed, pointing at Nathan. The male master of water looked offended.

"Excuse me!? I'm the best smelling one on the team!" he shouted, obviously ticked. The impostor snickered and threw a log at his head, knocking the poor guy over. Nathan didn't get up. Nya was now the only one left. She held her katana with slightly trembling hands and a look filled with determination. Seeing her look filled me with determination.

"I'll ask you one last time, where is my brother!?" she questioned him in a firm voice. The impostor smiled.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe this is his body and I'm possessing it. Maybe I am him. Maybe he's dead," he answered, beginning to circle her from a few feet away. Suddenly, I heard a rustling in a tree.

"If I was dead, would I be able to do THIS!?" I heard a familiar voice shout from the tree. A young man in a red shirt jumped from the tree, his fists igniting into flames. He punched his impostor across the face, knocking him to the ground. Oh yeah, that was _definitely_ Kai.

"What the hell!? You're supposed to be back with Marléne!" the impostor exclaimed in disbelief. I saw Kai crack his knuckles.

"Yeah, and she's easy to escape from. Trust me, you can get away from anyone who runs in heels...except for my sister," the master of fire grinned, before attempting to kick his impostor unconscious. Unfortunately, Bizarro Kai was too fast for him. The impostor rolled out from under him, landing a kick in the stomach. Kai stumbled back and stayed on guard as Nya ran up and joined him. I decided now my time to strike.

I jumped down from the tree and ran to join them, standing by Nya.

"Thought you guys may need help," I smiled. Nya's determined look didn't falter.

"Good to see you're here," she said in a much more positive voice. The impostor narrowed his eyes at us.

"You two afraid to fight me on your own? So you call in a runt?" he question. I was instantly enraged. I'm no runt!

I knelt down and slammed my hands on the ground in a split second. Long, snaking black lines jetted towards the impostor, wrapping around his limbs. Looks like my rope ability is just like uncle Clouse's, except mine are intricate black lines instead of deep purple snakes. I've really grown in my ability with the Dark Arts (Hopefully Sensei never finds out I've been studying this stuff behind his back. He'd be so pissed!).

The impostor struggled to get free, but my lines didn't waver. I tried to hold him in place as I turned to Kai and Nya.

"Get him! Now!" I commended them as I struggled to hold him in place. Kai nodded and he ran towards the imposter, his sister following him. Just as they approached the Bizarro ninja, he broke free from my powers, attacking them immediately. He threw Nya into a tree, grabbing her blade and cornering Kai, who was of course unarmed. I cursed. Come on, why won't the Dark Arts work now!?

"Now, how about we end this once and for all? Let's make what I said earlier become a fact instead of a lie," I saw the impostor raise the blade. Panicked, I began to get up and run towards him, but after two steps, I halted to a stop. I was immediately shocked on what my eyes fell upon.

 _Same Time, Same Place_

Kai backed up against the tree as Hus double approached him, a smirk plastered across his face. He was only slightly scared of this guy, but since he was now stuck between a tree, a rock, and a double that wanted to kill him, he was even more frightened.

"Now, how about we end this once and for all? Let's make what I said earlier become a fact instead of a lie," the double smiled as he raised his sword above his head. Kai could feel heat growing on his hands again. _If I could just heat up again, I could roast this guy!_

Unfortunately for him, the night was cold, putting him at a disadvantage for raising the heat of the fire. He'd just chill it instead of warm it. He closed his eyes and tried desperately to think of something, but couldn't. It would only be seconds now before the sword fell upon him. Though, as he waited, he heard a grunt come from his double.

The master of fire opened his eyes, only to see a blade sticking out from the double's chest, and black steam erupting from where the blade impaled him. He was shocked. _Who did this!?_

"Heh, how does it feel to have a blade in your chest? Painful, isn't it?" A weak but familiar voice said from behind the double. Kai's clone dropped the sword, his hands falling to his side.

"It hurts especially when people twist the blade, making it all much...more...painful," the voice paused as it twisted the blade in the double's chest, making him cry out. More black steam erupted from his chest.

"Maybe you should have thought of all that before terrorizing my friends," the blade was pulled from his chest, then Kai watched as it cut half of the double's throat, causing black steam to billow from the neck too as well. The clone then fell to the ground, revealing that it was Lilly behind him. A makeshift bandage soaked with blood covered the area between her shoulder and breast, and a huge splotch of blood covered most of her chest and most of the side of her gi. Another makeshift bandage covered her arm, which was partly soaked in blood. She was pale and looked weak.

Kai didn't know whether to be pleased, concerned, or frightened. He was happy she saved him, concerned on what happened to her, and a little frightened that his girlfriend just killed a clone that looked just like him with no remorse. He had to admit, he felt all three emotions, maybe even a fourth.

"Lilly, are you alright?" Kai asked her as she looked over at him.

"I'm fine," she replied simply, looking tired. Kai was starting to become much more concerned.

"Lilly! You were supposed to stay with Cass and the others! Aw man, you've probably lost lots more blood from moving!" Karma exclaimed as she ran up with Nya. Lilly glanced at her bandages, then looked back up at them. Her expression didn't change.

"Guys, I'm okay, alright? I'll be fiii..." she began to say, but her voice faded as her eyes closed and she fell. Kai rushed over to her quickly, catching her.

"She must have fainted," he observed as her head rested against his shoulder. Karma nodded as she picked up a half awake Jay.

"Probably from blood loss. We're gonna need to get home quick," she said as Nya looped Nathan's arm over her shoulder and assisted him over.

"We should probably meet up with the others then and get back," she suggested, to which both Kai and Karma agreed.

"Uh, yeah, anyone know where Lloyd and Zane are by the way?" the master of darkness asked as they went to find Cass and the others.

"They're probably bringing the Bounty back, or Zane is chasing Alex so he can get Pixal back. Who knows," Kai shrugged. Nya nodded.

"Well, we better go stop Zane before he shatters his eye again," she said.

"Agreed." Both Kai and Karma replied at the same time as they walked through the sea of trees. Everything was starting to seem peaceful for once to everyone, except for Jay. Although he was only half-conscious, he could feel a presence within the forest. A presence that crackled with electricity just like him. A presence that produced the same energy as him.


	16. Chapter 16

"Could you do a scan again? Just so I can see if her lungs truly weren't severed," Nya asked Zane as she flipped through a medical book. I was sitting next to them in my room as Lilly slept soundly in her bed, bandages wrapped around her chest and arm. Zane nodded to Nya's request and stood up, proceeding to scan my friend's body again. He shook his head when he was finished.

"None of her internal organs were severed. Though, a few veins were punctured, but they will heal," the nindroid informed us, "I did discover something odd though. Her lungs are a bit smaller than the average human's. They're the size of the average eight year old boy's."

Nya raised an eyebrow at this information. "How? Wouldn't that suffocate her in a sense?"

Zane shook his head. "It looks like she breathes just fine. Though, it looks like the size of her lungs wasn't a hereditary thing or something she was born with."

"It could have been something the crystal altered in her. She did mention to me once that the shard changed lots of things about her. Organs could be one of those," I mentioned to them, leaning forward to try and peek inside Nya's medical book. She shut it before I could even get a glimpse of what was on the page.

"It could be. Though, I wish she would have told us that the shard altered things in her. It would have been so much easier to check if she didn't get any important organs sliced," the female master of water sighed. Zane walked over and gently tapped her on the shoulder.

"Nya, you may want to loosen the bandages around her chest. It looks like they are beginning to crush her ribs," the nindroid notified her. Nya stood up immediately and checked.

"Damn it. Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" she questioned the android. Zane shrugged.

"I thought you would notice, since you did the same exact thing to your brother," he reminded her. Nya narrowed her eyes.

"Just stand outside the room and make sure no one walks in while I fix this. I'll tell you when to come back in," she told the nindroid. Zane nodded and exited the room silently as Nya began to cut some of the bandages around Lilly's chest. Once she removed the tight ones and began to wrap slightly loser ones around my friend's chest and wound, I wondered something.

"How do you tie the bandages too tightly every time? I mean, you did this to Kai, then Hunter, now you did it to Lilly. Is it a bad habit or?" I asked her as Nya began to tie them. She sighed.

"No, I'm just too used to using bandages on practice dummies. Misako never told me if they were really tight or not, so I kinda went with it. Bandages do have to be a little tight anyway," she explained as she finished tying the bandage. I nodded in understanding.

"But shouldn't Misako tell you if they're too tight? She is your teacher for this after all," I questioned. She shrugged.

"I don't know. She doesn't tell us a lot of things anyway, so...who knows," Nya sat down after tying the bandage, looking pretty tired. I decided to stop asking her questions about it, for fear that I was the one tiring her. I guess it was something I did to a lot of people anyway.

As Zane walked back in, I noticed that Kai had followed him in, his hair still deprived of the usual one hundred pounds of gel he uses to spike his hair. This is a new record for how long he's gone without hair gel.

"How is she doing?" the master of fire asked as he entered the room. Nya glanced at Lilly, then looked back over at her brother.

"She's okay. She's been asleep the whole time though," the female master of water informed her brother. He chuckled a little bit.

"Typical of her," Kai sat down next to his sister and turned to her now, "But are you alright too? You did get thrown into a tree..."

"I'm fine, Kai. I'm just going to have a little back pain. Nothing serious like what Lilly and Hunter have," Nya said as she absent-mindedly rubbed her back. Kai shrugged.

"But I don't want my little sis having her back damaged her whole life," he put an arm around his sister's shoulder and leaned against her. Nya giggled.

"I'll be fine you idiot," she smiled. Kai continued to lean on her.

"Oh, then you'll have to pile pillows under your back or maybe even have Jay become your mattress," he went on. Nya was still giggling. I had to admit, I could feel a little bit of jealousy in my heart as I watched them. This is the thing Luo and I used to do. The thing that I'll never get and yearn to do again. I could feel sadness seeping into my heart immediately.

"Alright, stop before I decide to tell Blondie here your horrid secret," she said as she pushed her brother off her. Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Which one?" he questioned. Before Nya could answer though, another voice spoke up.

"If it's that secret that he likes singing songs from musicals and Disney movies I already know that...and honestly there's nothing wrong with that," Lilly's voice caused us all to turn and look at her, while Kai's face became tomato red from the spilling of his secret. My friend sat in her bed, wide awake and stretching. The master of fire blinked.

"How did you k-"

"I heard you singing in the shower the other day. All I could hear was _'Love is an open doooor!_ ' and several other hard to hear lyrics," she explained. Kai's face became a darker shade of red as his sister and I laughed. "But if you ever need a duet partner I'll be sure to sing along as I walk by," Lilly offered, continuing. Kai kneeled down by her bed.

"Okay...sure...at least you're awake," he smiled, his face still red. Lilly nodded and looked at the bandages inside her shirt.

"Yeah...at least I am..." her voice trailed off as if she realized something, then she shook her head. I wonder what that was.

"Is everything alright?" Zane questioned, noticing her action. She didn't respond or even acknowledge him. She just stared at her bed sheets, her eyes becoming wider. Is she remembering something?

"I'm confused..." Lilly finally answered, not looking up. Nya gave a bewildered look.

"What are you confused about?" she asked. The blonde remained silent again.

"Why aren't you all mad?" Lilly still refused to look up and she absentmindedly picked at her sheets. I raised an eyebrow. Mad? Why would I be mad? I'm more concerned than mad! In fact, the only person who I'd be angry with is Alex! Desperate shithead stole my first kiss. A kiss that was reserved for _someone special!_ At least he's not stealing my determination and will to launch him into the freaking sun though!

"What do you mean?" Kai asked, looking a little concerned.

"Shouldn't you guys be mad!? I didn't tell you all that the Bizarro Ninja wasn't Kai once I knew! I didn't tell you all he and Alex were planning on something vile! I didn't warn you all that Alex's deal was a scam! But I didn't! I waited until the last second! I could have stopped it all if I would have just said something! I could have prevented Pixal's abduction! I could saved Hunter, Zane, and everyone from injury! I...I could have maybe even prevented Xavier's death and saved Yamikani from grief," Lilly cried, a waterfall of tears beginning to stream from her face, "I...even wished that the stab wound would have killed me so I didn't have to face you all after it all."

I began to feel worry and sympathy. No, why does she feel this way!? I don't think she meant to keep it from us on purpose, unless she was threatened! Though, I guess I don't know what happened since she hasn't told us all that she experienced. Still, why!?

"Lilly, none of it's your fault. That double did threaten your life after all. What could you have done?" Kai took her hand in his, giving a sympathetic look. Okay, she must have told him what happened already.

"I do not know what happened, but I can assure you that none of this is your fault. _Alex_ is the one who commanded that Bizarro Ninja and told him to wreak havoc here. Bizarro Kai's actions were _Alex's_ fault, not _yours_ ," Zane attempted to reassure her, but more tears just streamed from her eyes.

"But I could have prevented his actions! He may have threatened to kill me, but that shouldn't have wavered my will to keep you all safe! I shouldn't have cared about what would have happened to me!" Lilly argued. I stood up immediately.

"No! You should care about what happens to you too! Don't give up everything just for us! It sounds nice, but remember that you need to care about yourself too!" I argued, "What you did was normal for a person in that situation. Don't beat yourself up over it all. You did the best you could."

"But-" Lilly began to deny, but I cut her off.

"You did what you could. Besides, you're the one who delivered the killing strike on the Bizarro Ninja. You helped us, you didn't hurt us."

Kai shivered at the mention of the death of his double. "Yeah..." he said in a quiet voice. I must have reawakened those memories of him seeing someone who looked exactly like him die...at the hands of his girlfriend.

"I...suppose," Lilly said quietly as she turned to get up. I nodded.

"So, stop blaming yourself for all the stuff Bizarro Kai did, okay? None of it's your fault," Nya gave a reassuring smile as the blonde stood up. Lilly nodded, but her expression didn't change.

"Okay."

The sudden arrival of a random ship three hours later left us bewildered as to who was visiting us. Last I recall, the only vehicle Dareth owned was in an accident last month, Ronin said he was traveling to Astor City (which is in a faraway country), and really, none of our other friends owned a ship like this, so who could it be!?

We all stood outside and looked at it as Sensei neared it's doors. It looked like an old fighter jet. It had to be about forty years old, considering how faded the paint was. We must have some old guy visiting us.

The door to ship slowly opened, revealing a slightly drunk-looking Ronin with disheveled hair. Looks like I was right on it being an old man who was visiting us. Yippee.

"Long time no see...wait...what's with the new people?" Ronin squinted at the new members of our team. Sensei Wu turned towards them.

"They're my new students. I must say, Cole did a remarkable job as a teacher for them during their first year," the old man answered him, smiling. Ronin then squinted at Cole.

"You're tellin' me that ghost kid taught them to do all that karate crap? Nice," he hiccuped. He then looked at Lilly.

"Well, you look like shit. Did you get hit by a car?" he questioned. Lilly narrowed her eyes.

"No," she answered simply, crossing her arms. The drunken renegade hiccuped again.

"I'm surprised whatever it was didn't mess up your face. You know, you kinda look like your mom. Heh, I remember when I b-" Before he could finish, Sensei took him by the shoulders and started guiding him inside.

"I think you've had too much _sake_ , Ragnvald," the old man claimed as the renegade samurai began to protest.

"Hey! Don't use that name!" he growled. Lilly glared at him as Sensei Wu lead him inside, obviously insulted but what he said. Though, before Ronin and the old man could walk in, Kai stepped in front of them, cracking his knuckles.

"Well, before you take him inside, I have some unfinished business," the master of fire glared at Ronin, who just hiccupped cluelessly. Sensei Wu sighed, as if he were exhausted.

"Kai, it would not be wise to pick fights now."

"But this freakin' pedophile was going to hit on my sister last month! You think I'm just gonna let him go!?" Steam rolled off of Kai's fists as he glared at the drunken renegade. Ronin just smiled.

"Eh, your sister isn't really that attractive though. In fact, she's kind of annoying. I _could_ flirt with the other women here though," he chuckled. Kai smacked him across the face immediately, leaving a dark red mark on Ronin's stubble-covered cheek. He glared at Kai.

"Oho, so you wanna fight, eh? A'ight, I'll take you on, kid," he smirked. Kai continued to glare at him.

"I'm not a kid! I'm a man!" the master of fire shouted as he began to wind up a punch. Before he could hit Ronin though, Sensei stopped him.

"We will use peace to resolve issues, not fighting," the old man said calmly, looking at both of them. He then took Ronin by the shoulder and led him inside, leaving Kai fuming.

"Why the hell is Ronin here anyway!?" he shouted, stomping his foot. I shrugged.

"Probably because he was drunk and we were on his mind for some reason," I said, glancing at the ship and back to Kai.

"Or he had something to tell us but decided to down a hundred bottles of _sake_ on his way here," Nya sighed. She could be right. He was on his way to Astor City after all. What would make him come back all this way? Did something happen? Or did he truly just come back because he's drunker than crap?

We'd most likely get our answer when he sobered up, which could take forever.

 **20-8-5 13-15-18-5 20-8-5 13-5-18-18-9-5-18**


	17. Chapter 17

Just when we thought Ronin was finally sober, he had gotten into a stash of alcohol that was found in Misako's room. You know, I'd ask why there was alcohol in Mrs. Garmadon's room in the first place, but that's none of my business. She does a ton of weird crap anyway. I wouldn't even be surprised if she was caught smoking weed. It even makes me wonder how Lloyd can stand some of his mother's antics. I suppose I haven't seen all the weird stuff that she does yet though.

Seeing that Ronin was going to be drunk for a longer time, we all decided that we would wait until tomorrow to see what he wanted. Sensei Wu volunteered to watch over the drunken man as we all headed to our rooms to sleep. Lilly and I had to share our room with Cass, Sammie, and Nya though, since Sensei was going to keep Ronin in their room. Most likely because it was closest to the bathroom.

"Hopefully he doesn't touch anything in there. I don't feel like pouring soap and disinfectant all over everything," Sammie sighed as she settled into her sleeping bag on the floor. Nya nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Does anyone else question why Misako had a stash of _sake_ in her room?" the female master of water questioned us all. Nearly everyone nodded.

"Uh, I know this is off topic, but are you three sure none of you want to take my bed? I can sleep on the floor...then you guys won't be as uncomfortable," Lilly spoke up, looking at the girls. Cass nodded.

"We'll be fine. Besides, I think it's better that you sleep on your bed, considering your wounds," she responded, wiggling into her sleeping bag. Lilly hesitated for a moment, then nodded and laid down. I had to admit, it was quite pleasant having the other girls in here. It actually kinda felt like a slumber party, except we weren't watching cheesy horror movies and eating tons of pizza. Instead, we were just staring at the ceiling and listening to the occasional noises that Ronin made down the hall. We should do this stuff more often.

"Oh mama I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the laaawww! Law man has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my hooommme!" the drunken man sung louder outside, as if he were actually trying to wake everyone up.

"I like that song, but I don't like it when some drunken doofus is freakin' screaming it down the hallway," Cass commented, trying to cover her ears with her pillow. Nya groaned.

"Couldn't he have slept outside?" she grumbled, sticking her fingers in her ears. Looks like Ronin isn't getting a Grammy for his drunken singing anytime soon.

"How about we try to talk over his singing? Cole and I used to do that when our father would blast his classical music at night," Sammie suggested. I guess that couldn't be too bad.

"What could we talk about though?" Nya questioned. Sammie rubbed her chin.

"Well...I kinda eavesdropped on Sensei the other night and heard something," she mentioned. I instantly perked up.

"What'd you hear?" I asked.

"Well, it was kind of muffled, but Sensei was saying something to Mrs. Garmadon about an 'elemental overload'. It sounded kinda serious," she informed us all.

"What is that?" Cass asked.

"That's what Mrs. Garmadon said. And Sensei said it's some kind of overflow of your powers that can be triggered by certain events or emotions and can even possibly take over your mental state or state of mind. From what it sounds like, the events that can trigger it could be death of a loved one, betrayal, traumatic experience, or really, just pure rage. Anything that can ignite a strong feeling of anger or sadness. Maybe even fear," the master of light explained. I was surprised, as well as everyone else in the room. An elemental overload? And it's triggered by events and emotions like that? How come it didn't happen to me when Luo died? I didn't feel any kind of overflow. I only felt emptiness and I was frozen. Maybe Sensei was lying to Misako. Or maybe my overload was just remaining frozen and empty for a week.

"What exactly does the overload do power-wise?" Lilly questioned. Sammie was silent for a moment, then sat up.

"What I think I heard Sensei say is that your powers kind of control your body and the kind of impact your powers can make. For example, if Jay has an overload, he become a living _Beacon of Maracaibo_. He could even possibly electrocute things standing within several feet of him. I could possibly become a human flashlight. Hunter or Cass could become human tornadoes (if spinjitzu doesn't do that already), and Kai could even become a human torch," she explained.

"That's hot," I thought I heard Lilly comment, to which Nya snorted. I was still amazed by the details of this phenomenon though. Could I become a living representation of darkness then? But I'm anything but dark! It's only my powers that are dark, right!?

"Eh...I don't think this could happen to Lilly though, considering that seems like a genetic power thing. I don't think the shard in your hand can reach the multitude of an overflow unfortunately," Sammie told the blonde, who didn't look surprised.

"Oh well. I don't need an overload to be badass anyway," Lilly smiled, flexing one arm. I heard Nya giggle slightly.

"Well, anyway, that's pretty cool. How it's triggered isn't cool though," she commented, to which we all nodded.

"If only it was triggered at will or when you wanted a granola bar or something," Sammie sighed, wiggling in her sleeping bag. Cass nodded.

"So, anyway, Nya, did you catch that new episode of Soldier Sun earlier?" the master of light asked Nya. She lit up immediately, proceeding to chat about the show with Sammie, excitement evident in her voice. I smiled to myself and turned onto my side, facing the wall now. Well, the overload stuff is pretty nice, but I wonder what it really looks like. Would lightning be wrapped around Jay's whole body? Would Nya become a living water being, her body slightly clear? Or maybe even opaque? Could Cass become a human-sized cyclone? What about Lloyd? What would he become? Can energy even take a physical form?

I listened back into my friends' conversation, since I really had nothing else to think about. I'm afraid my face could become noticeably red if I thought about Lloyd, though, it would be nice to think about him.

"So, how about Jun and Bora getting together? What do you think?" I heard Sammie ask Nya. I heard the female master of water make a disgusted noise.

"Are you serious? I hate that they made them an official couple," she complained, "Aya would have been a much better partner for Bora."

"I don't understand the problem with Jun and Bora though," Sammie frowned.

"Jun's too old for Bora! He's like, eighteen and she's fifteen!" Nya explained, crossing her arms. I froze in place. Wait...those are about the same ages Lloyd and I are! Does that mean...? No, these are fictional characters Nya is talking about! It can't possibly relate to reality, can it?

I always heard stories from my friends in middle school to not date anyone 16+ until I'm their age, for fear of manipulation. Does this apply to my feelings for Lloyd!? But I'd never manipulate him! I'm not that kind of person! He's already been through enough, why would I be the kind of person to do that him!? Would this just be a matter where past generations have ruined this for future generations?

I continued to feel nervous over my feelings for Lloyd. Are my feelings illegal? Am I not supposed to feel this way? Lloyd trusts me, right? Would he think I'd manipulate him if we ever became a couple? Our age difference is about the same as Jay and Nya's. What could be so different!?

Though, I suppose it could be the issue that Lloyd is still mentally a kid. He's still fourteen, despite his physical appearance. He's still seen as a kid by society technically. So, does trust not count anymore? Are my feelings truly illegal? Would I be seen as possibly manipulative or wrong if I expressed my feelings for him?

I clutched onto the skirt of my nightgown, worry and frustration flooding my mind. Why is that when I actually love someone, it all goes wrong? Whether it's a matter of "Oh you can't like them because they aren't the same race" or being brutally rejected, or this. I just can't like or love someone romantically anymore...can I? I'm guessing I'm fated to be alone. Fated to have everything go wrong. I have enough evidence to know it. My family's in poverty, Luo is dead, I was possessed, I rarely ever have good dreams anymore, then this. What's next? What Fenwick said actually happens and I die of losing all my blood? It's likely.

I've always known myself as the one who brought bad luck to those who deserved it, hence my nickname. Though, what it looks like now, it looks like I'm only bringing the bad luck to myself.

 _Ninjago City, Unknown Building, 2:56 am_

Alex typed away on his laptop, yawning and brushing his disheveled orange hair out of his face. He had been hacking and installing the flashdrive's program into one of his inventions for about eight hours now. Though, during this time, he had taken the time to think about something that had been bothering him.

"Marléne, are you awake?" he questioned his colleague, whose head lifted up to acknowledge him.

"I am now. What do you want?" she asked, sounding annoyed.

"Don't you think what we're going to do is...a bit much? I mean...I just want to change the world...I don't.." his voice trailed off as he tried to think of what to say. Marléne raised an eyebrow.

"Alexian, you murdered a man and nearly killed a girl, and now you're questioning our plan!?" she raised her voice, while getting up. Alex sighed.

"Listen, I just want to go a different route! It's not going to be good on my record if I'm known for killing people! Maybe we should tone it down!" he defended himself. Marléne stomped over and abruptly picked him up by the shirt collar, making him drop the laptop.

"Do you realize how stupid you're sounding here!? How do you think the leader of Astor City got into power? He killed people! Even the creator of this godforsaken country killed people! You can't go soft now! Don't be like your dumbass mom!" the woman shouted. Alex felt a spark of rage ignite inside him.

"My mother wasn't dumb you imbecile! She was a decent human being!" Alex shouted back. Marléne narrowed her eyes.

"How did you expect Sebastian to promote you to his rank with _this_ attitude?" she grumbled. Alex narrowed his eyes.

"Well, if you put me down, I'll show you," he said. Marléne immediately dropped him, allowing him to stand. He then posed dramatically, making Marléne raise an eyebrow. Alex's hands then turned into fists, then he flashed two prominent middle fingers in her direction, causing her to look offended. He then proceeded to break out into a dance, still flashing middle fingers whenever he could, and even waved them in front of his face. Marléne was both appalled and offended by this behavior. She then facepalmed.

"I can't believe I'm working with _this child_ ," she mumbled as Alex stopped dancing. He smiled triumphantly.

"I call that 'Making My Point', I hope you enjoyed it. Maybe it even made you smarter," he laughed as he picked up his laptop. Marléne sighed like a mother who had just survived a Walmart trip with her twelve children.

"Eh...at least my voice isn't the exact same as a boy band singer's," she yawned, brushing her hair out of her face. Alex scoffed.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" he shouted, glaring at her. Marléne grinned.

"Don't you remember? I said your voice sounded exactly like that singer Ashikubi's ***** ," she reminded him. Alex glared at her and then crossed his arms.

"Well, at least that means I can sing...Heh, maybe I can serenade-" he began to say, but Marléne cut him off, "Yeah, but nearly everyone hates you so no one really cares."

The master of psion opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it and turned back to his laptop.

"Just go to sleep, Marléne."

 ***Pssst, Ashikubi is an actual singer (** **He's a damn good utaite like holy mama)** **He usually does covers of Vocaloid songs.**


	18. Chapter 18

_**A/N: Just wanted to tell you guys that this story will be on a short break from the week of the 28th (12/28) to sometime in January. I will try to get as many chapters out as I can before then, but there won't be a lot because 1, I'd like to tie the end of this story in to the beginning of Ninjago season 6, which will be coming out in Europe next month, and 2, it's finals week for me right now and I'm getting crushed to death by a rock called stress. I'll try to do as much as I can though~**_

After helping Cass, Sammie, and Nya roll up their sleeping bags and take them back to their rooms, I walked outside with Lloyd, waiting for Ronin to wake up so we could see what his visit was all about. Even though my thoughts from last night were still picking at me, I insisted that I join him on the walk. This wouldn't hurt anything, right?

Though, I couldn't help but stare at his features (well, it was kind of impossible not to. I mean, when you have a crush on someone you kinda stare at them, right? Don't lie.). I admired his platinum blond hair, his emerald green eye and his bright red eye, his slightly tan skin, the small smile he had on his face 80% of the time, and just the way his hair was styled. I couldn't help but admire his body, too (I hope this doesn't sound awkward). Lloyd wasn't really as muscular as the other guys on the team, but I didn't really care. You love someone's personality more than their looks, right?

I couldn't help but think though, does Lloyd admire my physical appearance too? I don't really find myself that attractive. I mean, just look at me. My skin's really pale, I'm really short, my legs aren't long at all, I look like I haven't eaten in days, and I'm pretty sure my voice is as annoying as heck. That's how people feel about high-pitched voices anyway. Lloyd couldn't possibly admire these things. Though, maybe he does?

"Eh...I probably should have drained Alex of his energy back at the forest. We wouldn't still be dealing with him then," the sudden sound of Lloyd speaking startled me, making me snap out of my brief period of admiring him. The master of energy looked over at me, a little concerned.

"Everything okay?" he asked, noticing my jump from being startled. I nodded, scratching my head nervously.

"Uh...yeah...just...um...s-saw a spider. Yeah, a spider!" I answered quickly, trying to shove my hands into the pockets I don't have. I had forgotten that I was wearing a skirt and not shorts. God, I must look like such a weirdo right now.

Lloyd chuckled. "Yeah, I guess they're a little creepy. I liked releasing them in the rooms of people who bullied me though. When I was a kid of course."

I raised my eyebrows in surprised. He was bullied? And he released spiders in his tormenters' rooms? It was hard to believe the Lloyd of the past was the Lloyd of now. I quickly changed the subject, not wanting to reawaken Lloyd's memories of being bullied.

"You wanted to drain all of Alex's energy?" I questioned. Lloyd nodded. How though!?

"Doesn't usually take a long time for you to do that though? How would you even get Alex to be still?" I asked.

"I can speed up and slow down the process at will. So, if I wanted to completely drain him of energy and kill him, I could do it in a snap with one touch," Lloyd explained, causing me to raise an eyebrow. Wait, didn't he tell me it took a while? And that time when I needed energy to pull an all nighter and he held my hand for the longest time...

I could feel my face burning with a blush immediately as I realized why it took so long that day. _He wanted it to take a long time!_ Why? _He wanted to hold my hand!_ I could just faint right now! You know what this could mean, right!?

"Uh, are you sure you're alright? Your face is really red. Is it too hot out here?" Lloyd asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. If my face wasn't red enough earlier, it is now. I instantly wrapped my scarf around my nose and mouth, trying to hide my blushing and embarrassment.

"Nope. Just a benefit of having pale skin, haha. Er...we should go inside. Ronin's probably up by now you know," I spoke quickly, turning towards the tea shop and walking in it's direction. I once again tried to shove my hands in my nonexistent pockets, trying to escape this embarrassing situation as fast as I could. Though, I had to hope my blush would fade once I joined my friends, otherwise I would be questioned as to why my face is a shade of bright red. I don't feel like being teased today.

"Damn, all that alcohol is givin' me a pounding headache. Why do you all have to start talking to me now?" Ronin complained as he sat down in the living room, rubbing his head. Sensei sighed.

"Maybe that will teach you not to binge drink so much," the old man claimed, walking forward with his staff. Ronin crossed his arms and muttered under his breath, his only eye glaring at Sensei Wu.

"So, what do you want?" Ronin asked, reclining slightly in the chair, beginning to look quite uninterested.

"Well, we wanted to ask why you're here. We realize you arrived here under the influence of alcohol, but obviously we were on your mind enough for you to come here," Misako answered him before Wu could, speaking in a much gentler voice. Ronin's cheeks became slightly pink.

"I may or may not have missed a few old friends...but I had something to do and didn't know if you all wanted to get involved in it," he informed everyone. Sensei Wu turned and looked at us, most likely about to ask us about the deal with Alex. I stepped up to answer immediately.

"I doubt he'll be bothering us anytime soon, Sensei. We can handle whatever Ronin's got for us," I smiled confidently. Ronin craned his neck over Sensei's shoulder, looking quite surprised.

"Oh, didn't even know you were here, Pipsqueak," he smirked. I huffed, annoyed by his nickname for me.

"I thought I told you not to call me that!" I gritted my teeth. The renegade samurai shrugged.

"But it's fitting," he defended. I stomped my foot in frustration. Ugh, when will this guy quit!?

"Ragnvald, please be respectful," Sensei told Ronin, looking quite annoyed as well, "Now, what is this issue you want us to join you in?"

"Fine," Ronin glared at Sensei again, possibly for the mentioning of his actual name, then began, "So, I got into this deal with a guy after mistaking him for a woman to where he would make a mech for me like Mr. Roboto's. I've been waiting for months and I still haven't gotten it, so I'm thinking about infiltrating his place to see what's up and why I haven't gotten my mech yet."

I rubbed my chin. _Mistook him for a woman?_ Wait...there's only one person I know who that could happen to!

"Could you perhaps describe this person?" Zane requested, to which Ronin nodded.

"Well, his hair is almost as long as Nya's...some weird-ass blue eyes...about as tall as Jay...a voice that doesn't quite fit his look...he's got some really bright orange hair."

Looks like my assumption was right. Ronin had run into Alex.

"Um, Ronin...we're actually in a sort of fight with that guy too," Cole told the renegade samurai. Ronin raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Wait, he conned you guys too!?" he asked, to which Nya nodded.

"I guess you could say that. It's a little more than that, though."

"What do you mean?" Ronin leaned forward to listen. Kai stepped forward immediately.

"He freakin' abducted me and made some sort of clone of me that freakin' terrorized the team!" he exclaimed, before walking over and gesturing towards Lilly and Zane, "He made this clone even attack them! And now he's got Pixal!"

Ronin nodded, then squinted. "Pixal is Zane's robot wife, right?"

"Well, we are not technically married..." the nindroid replied, looking flustered.

"Anyway...I think this guy, Alex, may have made a clone of me, too. When we were exiting the forest, I could sense an electrical energy similar to mine, and there was no way any of you were projecting it. I'm 70% sure there's a clone of me now out there," Jay informed us all, looking a little scared. I gave a surprised look. Wait, why didn't he tell us about this earlier!?

"Jay, why didn't you say anything about it?" Misako questioned, looking at the master of lightning. Jay looked at the floor.

"I was...kinda scared, okay? Never before have I sensed electrical energy similar to mine, and I was just frightened," he admitted, fidgeting with the zipper on his jacket. Nya gave a sympathetic look.

"It's alright, Jay. I would have been scared too," she sympathized with him. The master of lightning looked up, a small smile appearing on his face. Ronin then cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention.

"So, are you guys going through with this or not? I need to know because I plan to give this guy a lil' visit tomorrow night," he said, looking at us all. Jay stepped forward immediately.

"We'll do it. Just tell us the plan and we'll be ready to go," the freckled ninja spoke for us all, a slightly more determined look on his face now. Ronin smirked.

"I knew you guys would."

From there, Ronin explained his plan. We'd go to where Alex is hiding under the cover of night and enter the building through all of it's entrances. Everyone would be in pairs, as there is six doors. Lloyd and me, Cass and Cole, Lilly and Hunter, Nathan and Kai, Jay and Zane, and Ronin & Sammie (much to Nathan's dismay.).

Lilly and Ronin would be able to identify the building and Ronin would identify it's entrances. We all would have a different entrance to go through so we could have Alex surrounded.

I had to admit, I felt very confident about this plan. It was perfect. It was enough to end this once and for all!

Oh, how I hope we have luck on our side tomorrow.


	19. Chapter 19

I stood on the roof of a building overlooking the City, the wind whipping my hair against my face. The smell of moisture and hot dogs from a nearby street vendor's cart filled my nose, reminding me of my old life in the City. The smell of moisture was most likely from an approaching storm though.

"Just like old times, huh?" I heard Lilly say to my right. I turned to look at her, her hair and hood whipping in the wind. Yeah, it was just like old times. I could even remember the times before we joined the team. It wasn't that long ago after all. The times when I didn't know who Lilly truly was. The time when she wore that mask. That guy Anthony. The time Lloyd visited my family's shop...the happier times before Luo died.

I smiled a little bit, recalling all the memories. "Yea."

"Well, we might as well get going. Who knows when Ronin and the others will reach the building," Lilly sighed, then turned towards Hunter, "You ready to go?"

"I've _been_ ready!" the orange ninja pulled on his hood in a flash, looking determined. "I'm ready to kick Little Debbie's butt! I'll stab his leg!"

Lilly chuckled. "Alright. Try not to get hurt, okay Karma?"

"Me? How about you, since you're the one getting stabbed left and right," I replied, expressing some concern.

"I'll be alright. I'll heed your words though," she smiled before turning back to Hunter. He joined her at the ledge of the building, his eyes still filled with determination. I swear, with this much determination he could defeat an evil flower!

"See ya guys later," Hunter waved before jumping down onto another roof with Lilly and disappearing into the sea of rooves that were the City. I turned to Lloyd, who was pulling his hood over his head, his eyes changing from red and green to just green.

"Ready to do this thing?" he asked, making sure his katana was in it's sheath. I pulled my scarf over my nose and nodded, the wind now waving my scarf with my hair.

"Alright, let's go," Lloyd nodded in response, running in the opposite direction that Lilly and Hunter went, then jumping on the roof below. I followed him as closely as I could, trying not to outrun him. I had to admit, he was a pretty fast runner, but I could beat him. I wasn't on the track team at my school for nothing anyway.

We jumped roof to roof until we met a ledge with rooftops that weren't within jumping reach. I was about to suggest trying to go a different way, but Lloyd jumped instead. He hung onto the side of a building, then jumped onto a flagpole. He swung once on the flagpole and threw himself onto another side of a building, then jumped onto the nearest rooftop. I blinked, both surprised and confused. Am I supposed to do _that!?_

Seeing as that was my only way to get over at the moment, I stepped back, looking at my path. I then ran forward as fast as I could, jumping and using the explosion from an orb of darkness as a boost. I grabbed onto the flagpole and swung on it once, then let go, using a darkness orb's explosion to boost me again. I reached out hoping to at least grab the edge, but I slipped. Before I could cry out and fall though, I felt someone grab my arm.

"Gotcha," Lloyd said quietly as I looked up at him. I then proceeded look down, curious as to how far up we were. I started to feel dizzy as I could see cars were just merely dots below, and they continued to become smaller and smaller as Lloyd pulled me up. I stumbled when I was finally pulled onto the rooftop though, falling on top of Lloyd.

We both looked at each other in surprise for a moment, my face steadily growing warmer as I continued to sit there. Then, Lloyd began to laugh, and I joined in too, out of nervousness.

"So, I'm guessing my uncle or anyone else hasn't even trained you in parkour yet," Lloyd slowly sat up, paying no mind to the fact that I was sitting on his legs. I couldn't help but wonder if he was blushing under his hood like I am right now. It's hard to tell.

"Nope. They probably should though, right?" I replied, thinking back to what I did earlier. Lloyd nodded.

"Yea, but you did pretty well back there," I could tell just from his eyes that he was smiling. I could feel my face growing even warmer.

"I did?" I asked, beginning to feel a little bashful. Lloyd nodded.

"Yeah. So, I'd say you could get the hang of it quickly...unlike Jay," he said positively, before glancing at the building in the distance. "We should probably get going..."

I instantly got up off his legs, beginning to feel even more anxious than before.

"Yeah, you're right. L-let's get going," I stuttered as he got up. Did I make him uncomfortable!? I mean, I _was_ sitting on his legs...and I did fall on him. But he was laughing earlier! Though, was it out of nervousness like mine? It could have been.

After jumping and running on a few rooves and having to attempt this thing called "parkour" again, we finally made it to the rooftop closest to the entrance we were going to take. I blinked in surprise as to where our entrance was though.

"You're telling me it's just a random door placed on the building with no stairs leading up to it or anything!?" I exclaimed in disbelief, gesturing to the door ahead. What was the architect even thinking!?

"Well, I didn't technically tell you anything, but yes. This should be easy though," Lloyd shrugged, producing a yoyo from the inside of his gi. I blinked again. Easy!? This is _easy!?_ Do I have to hang onto the door knob or something!? What even is this!?

I watched Lloyd swing the yoyo onto a conveniently placed flagpole above, proceeding to run and swing himself towards the door, kicking it open. I had to admit, I was kind of amazed, but my thoughts were focused on something else. How am I supposed to get over!?

"Don't worry!" Lloyd called to me, throwing the yoyo back, "Use that!"

I caught it, looking at it like it was an object I'd never seen before. Won't the string break under my weight!? Then again, it didn't break under Lloyd's weight, but still.

I threw the yoyo onto the flagpole anyway and swung myself towards the open door. Once I let go, I slid onto the hard floor, breathing a sigh of relief that I made it. The yoyo however...did not.

"Uh, sorry I dropped your yoyo, Lloyd," I apologized as I got up. The green ninja shrugged.

"Eh, I can buy more at the dollar store for fifty cents. No big deal," he said as he walked down the hallway. I followed him, anticipating what was ahead. Are Ronin and the others already here? Or are we ahead of them? Or are we seriously late to the party because of our goofing off? There was only one way to find out.

 _Same Time, Same Place_

 _Using yoyo's as grappling hooks, Karma accidentally falling on me, etc. God, could I make this any awkwarder!?_ Lloyd thought to himself as he walked down the hallway with his teammate, _Well, at least she couldn't see me blushing earlier, or at least I think she didn't._

He had to admit, he has never been good with liking someone anyway. He had a crush on a girl in his class at Darkly's once, but never confessed, as he didn't know what to do. Now, he takes advice from Kai and even Jay sometimes, but doesn't really know if it's right to take advice from them. Kai does the total opposite of what he says to Lloyd around Lilly, acting more like a dork instead of the supposed "cool guy" act he tells Lloyd to use. The master of energy has also seen Jay's luck with Nya, deciding that the master of lightning's advice wouldn't be the best to follow. He didn't even dare take advice from his uncle or even his mother.

Lloyd shook his head. _No, I need to focus on the mission. I can't be thinking about relationships right now! What would Uncle Wu say!?_

"Hey, is the hallway getting darker?" he heard Karma say, snapping him out of his thoughts. The master of energy proceeded to look around, noticing the lighting in the hallway had grown much darker, to the point where he couldn't quite see what lied far ahead.

"Yeah...that's odd. You think they didn't pay the electric bill or something?" Lloyd chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. He felt a bit of relief when he heard her giggle.

"Ha, yeah, maybe," he could tell just from her eyes that she was smiling beneath her scarf. _Looks like I don't need to pull Kai's stupid "cool guy" act to make her smile_ , Lloyd thought to himself, smiling as well.

Suddenly, he could feel a third presence with them in the hallway. Being able to sense different forms of energy, he could tell it was human energy, _but where was it coming from?_ Lloyd stopped where he was immediately, trying to see if he could find its source.

"Lloyd? Is everything okay?" he heard Karma ask as he looked around for it's source, finding nothing. He began to feel scared, remembering the only other time something like this happened. The museum. The guard. Being possessed. Lloyd slowly began to panic. _No! No! This can't be happening again! There can't be another ghost coming for me!_

"Tell me, are things looking up for you two?" a voice whispered from above, making Lloyd freeze. He slowly turned his head to look upwards, his eyes becoming wide when he noticed Alex above, lying on the ceiling.

"Boo," he smirked, before falling off the ceiling and kicking Lloyd through the floor and onto the hard floor below. Lloyd gasped as his back slammed against the floor, knocking the wind out of him. Alex placed the blades hidden within his sleeves against Lloyd's partly exposed neck, continuing to smirk.

"Isn't it great that you all are entering this place at different times? I get to pick you all off one by one! Wonderful, is it not!?" the master of psion laughed, as if he were some kind of evil mastermind. Lloyd struggled to get out from under him, but found himself to be stuck under Alex, the young man being heavier than he expected.

"Try all you may, but you-" before Alex could finish speaking, he was kicked off of the master of energy by Karma, who helped Lloyd up immediately. Lloyd's back throbbed in response to movement, causing him to wince.

"You alright?" the master of darkness asked him, expressing concern. Lloyd nodded in response, some of the concern fading from Karma's face.

"OK," she said before sprinting to Alex and proceeding to fight him, smacking him around with her staff as if he were a baseball. As Lloyd ran to assist her though, Alex started to use teleportation, making Karma become exasperated and confused, allowing him to land more hits on her. The master of energy ran in immediately, throwing an orb at Alex and then pulling his katana from his sheath, backing up until his back touched Karma's. They proceeded to step to the side in a circular motion, watching for the master of psion.

"Psst, he has to move his hands in a motion in order to teleport. Try to grab him while he's in the process of doing that," Karma whispered to him. Lloyd nodded, scanning his surroundings for the master of psion. Suddenly, the onslaught began. Slashes came from everywhere, and Alex moved his hands faster than Lloyd had ever seen. Parts of his gi became torn, his hood was ripped off, revealing his face and hair. Parts of Karma's scarf were torn and she had tiny cuts on her shoulders and face. Lloyd attempted several times to catch Alex's arms, but fell unsuccessful, only gaining cuts on his gloves. Though, in one swift movement, Karma caught Alex's arm and pinned it behind him, pointing the butt of her staff at his chin.

"Lloyd! Now! Drain him of his energy!" she shouted as the master of energy turned around. His heartbeat sped up.

 _This was it._ he thought, _I'm going to end it all._ The thought gave Lloyd joy, but also disgust. He'd kill Alex if he did this, but would also have his friends live in harmony again. This wouldn't be the first time Lloyd has killed something anyway. The thought of killing still sickened him though. He may say the word like he's going to do it, but he never wants to.

Though, Alex would go out silently without pain. He would simply feel sleepy and then slip into a permanent slumber. Problem solved. The City is saved. Yet, Lloyd was scared to do this. He was disgusted too. He never wanted to kill. He may have killed the Overlord once, but he had no choice, and the Overlord returned anyway.

The master of energy sighed, then closed his eyes, deciding that if he didn't see it he would forget it. He heard movement as he swung his hand to what he assumed to be Alex's shoulder, passing it off as a struggle as he drained the master of psion of his life energy. Something felt weird though. Alex's shoulder felt as though it were half bare, causing Lloyd to feel confused. _Wait, wasn't he wearing a long-sleeved shirt?_ the master of energy questioned himself in his thoughts. Lloyd slowly opened one eye to see why it felt this way, but ended up opening both eyes wide in shock, freezing in place.

His hand was not on Alex, it was on Karma. The movement could have only been Alex replacing himself with Karma. Her shocked eyes glanced at Lloyd once, before they closed and her body went limp, causing her to collapse to the ground. Lloyd began to tremble as he watched her collapse, tears stinging his eyes as Alex laughed.

 _I killed her..._

 **14-1-14-11-1-9 4-1-20-20-5 14-1-14-11-1-9 4-1-20-20-5**


	20. Chapter 20

_Ninjago City, Alex's Building, 9:40 pm_

 _There's no way this is happening. This is a dream. It has to be. There's no way I would have..._ Lloyd was in denial. His thoughts tried to mask the truth of what had happened, only hurting him more. _It was all because I closed my eyes. All because I'm not tough enough to want to witness the death of an enemy. What would Uncle Wu say to me about this!?_

He dropped to his knees, his breath shaking as he tried to say something, but all that came out was a brief screaming of Karma's name, her actual name, and then a loud sob. Lloyd could feel a waterfall of tears stream down his face and dribbles of snot leak from his nose. He continued to tremble as he sobbed, clutching himself as though he were a pillow or a stuffed animal.

Alex's laughing ceased as he looked over the mourning boy and the dead girl, an earlier feeling of sadness faded. He didn't need to finish off Lloyd. The boy was already broken to pieces now. Alex had no need to break him physically. His job was done.

He slowly moved his hands in the motion that allowed him to teleport, his hands first forming two small circles with pinkies raised, then the pinkies joining their circles, then the circles forming one circle. He disappeared instantly, going off to search for Lloyd and Karma's other teammates, leaving the master of energy with the master of darkness.

Lloyd began to feel guilty about it all, and about letting Alex escape, his sobs beginning to cease little by little. _In all those action movies I watched with Karma, the hero would go into rage mode when his companion was killed or severely injured. Was I supposed to do that? Was that how I'm supposed to be seen? Why couldn't I do that? Would it have made any difference?_

Aside from the common bouts of atelophobia and the feelings after some of the stuff he reads about himself online, he felt that he was doing alright as a hero. The city seemed to respect him and his team, and they had gained a bit of popularity from "saving" Stiix and stopping Chen. Now, he was worried. _What would the world think about this? What would my team think? If I did wake up Karma, what would she think!? Especially since I yelled her actual name..._

Lloyd slowly got up and picked up her limp body, trying to hold back more tears. _They all would hate me, wouldn't they? Even she would. I'm the one who killed her after all._

 _But is she really dead?_ he asked himself, denial returning bit my bit as he began to walk through the room. He looked down at her head, which was leaning against a part of his chest and shoulder, looking as though she were sleeping. _Yeah...she's just sleeping. That's it. She can probably hear me._

"Hey, Seiko, I...um...I'm sorry for suddenly using your actual name. I just...really like it. It's pretty..." he spoke quietly as he walked out of the room, aiming to exit the building. _But what if she can't hear me?_ he wondered, still believing that she was asleep instead of dead, _Though, I guess it would just be easier for me if I just kept talking like she was._

"We almost got Alex...if only he didn't have those stupid teleporting powers. We could have ended this all, but I guess fate had other plans, huh?" he continued to talk, his voice no longer trembling, "No matter. At least we didn't fight some crazy clone of mine like Kai had. Geez, I wonder how Lilly even dealt with that clone."

He glanced at her face again as he walked down the hallway, the "sleeping" expression the same as before. He sighed.

"Just like how fate keeps preventing me from telling you how I feel when you're awake. Someone's always gotta butt in or something, right?" he looked up at the ceiling, "Always some kind of interruption. I wish you already knew though, so I didn't have to try to tell and you people didn't butt in. That'd be great."

"Though, you probably still view me as a kid and would probably reject me, it would be great to still have you as a best friend, too. You did remind me to cut loose every now and then, despite being a sensei. You did remind me that I could still be a kid, despite my current physical state. I'm just really glad to have you around, okay? So, don't..." his voice trailed off as the memories from earlier flooded into his mind, reminding him that she was indeed not asleep, and that he was the one who caused it all. Tears began streaming from his eyes again despite his efforts to try to hold them back. He couldn't deny it any longer. "...die."

He dropped his knees again, not letting her go. His body shook with sobs as it had earlier, and he hugged Karma as though she were hugging him back. _It was enough that I was the one to send off my father to the Cursed Realm and leave him inside the Preeminent...now I've killed my best friend, the one that I...love._

 _How would I explain this? Would I just throw the blame on Alex? Or would I be truthful? Would I accept what's coming for me? I'm scared. I'm scared of the outcomes of both options. If I blame Alex we may go into an all out battle and more people will die, or if I tell them the truth I'll be dishonored and possibly even banished. With the banishment, people would view me like Uncle Wu viewed Morro: a great person who went rogue. Who wasn't who everyone thought they were. Who succumbed to darkness. I don't want to be seen that way. I'm in a bad enough state with myself already._

Lloyd snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a feminine voice down the hallway, asking if it was him. Tears blurred his vision, making the two people ahead look like fuzzy blobs. Though, the colors of the blobs helped him identify who they were. The purple and black was very familiar with him.

"Cass? Cole?" Lloyd wiped his eyes before looking up to see the master of wind and the master of earth approaching. A concerned look was on both of their faces. _There's no hiding now. I have to tell the truth._

"Lloyd? Is everything alright? What-" Cass began to say, but her voice trailed off when her eyes fell upon Karma, a look of shock appearing on her face, "Oh..."

Cole floated next to Cass, the concerned look on his face still remaining. "Is she...?"

Lloyd nodded, holding back tears. He had to tell them. "I...W-We were fighting Alex...and..we almost got him..but I...I wanted to...drain Alex of his life energy...a-and I...I...I...I closed my eyes and a...accidentally d-drained her instead..." he struggled to tell them, before breaking out into a sob again, "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

Cass rushed to his side, a look of concern returning to her face. "It's alright...you can bring her back, right? You're the who's still holding the life energy."

A small spark of hope flickered inside Lloyd for a moment, then faded. He was indeed able to transfer her life energy back and revive her, but he had to clear his mind, something he didn't believe he could do at that moment.

"I...can't," he struggled to say, bracing for the disbelief from his friends. _Some hero I am. I cannot even manage a simple task with my powers_. "My mind is too cluttered. I can't clear it. I've tried, Cass."

"Well, try harder! If you really want to save her, you wouldn't give up! Come on, Lloyd! I believe you can do this!" the female master of wind encouraged him, smiling in reassurance. Cole levitated over next to her, smiling as well.

"You can do it! You can do it!" he cheered, repeating the same phrase over and over. Lloyd looked over at his friends, then looked down at Karma. Seeing that a hand was already on her shoulder, he closed his eyes and tried desperately to clear his mind. His anxious thoughts fought back though, filling his mind with doubt and worry. He struggled to clear it, only to get frustrated and open his eyes.

 _Dammit, what would Uncle Wu say? Well, he'd probably say something about how I was able to clear my mind easily before. Why can't I do it now!?_ He closed his eyes again, trying his hardest to clear his mind. Tears of frustration began to fall from his tightly shut eyes as he starting gripping Karma's shoulder tighter. _I gotta clear my mind!_ His anxious thoughts fought back though, causing him to open his eyes and sigh in frustration.

"Hey, you think it's maybe one of those Snow White type things where someone has to kiss the other to wake them up?" Cole asked Cass. Lloyd shook his head, a small blush growing on his face. _That would have been easier and quite pleasant, but no._

"Unfortunately, no," the master of energy answered, "I just have to clear my mind, that's all."

He took a deep breath, and then closed his eyes again. _Come on, do this for her! She'd be cheering you on if she were here! She can cheer you on again if you bring her ba_ ck! His anxious thoughts were still fighting back, filling his head with doubt and even frustration. _No, don't give up! You want to see her again, right? You don't want to let your friends down, you want to see her smile again, you want to confess. Giving up now eliminates your chances of any of those happening! Come on!_ He focused as much as he could, pushing all thoughts from his mind. Lloyd felt a sense of calmness wash over him, and the faint feeling of energy leaving his body. He had done it.

 _Unknown Place, Unknown Time_

I opened my eyes to only see that I was surrounded by whiteness, as though I were in an empty room. _How did I get here?_ The only thing I remembered was fighting Alex with Lloyd, and Lloyd accidentally catching my shoulder instead of Alex's, thanks to that dingus switching our places without warning. Though, how did I get from there to here? Was I dragged or carried?

I slowly rose from where I laid on the ground, looking around for my friends. I couldn't find anything, except the silhouette of someone to the south of me. Figuring they were one of my friends or perhaps a stranger that knows what's going on, I jogged towards them, waving my hand.

"Hey! Do you know what's going on!? Where am I!?" I called to the silhouette, still waving my hand. I could see color beginning to appear on the silhouette. Red, my skin color, dark blue, and orange began to show as the silhouette turned to acknowledge me, revealing black, wavy hair and sparkling brown eyes. I gasped and stopped dead in my tracks immediately, realizing who this silhouette was. It had nearly exact same face as me.

"L...Luo!" I shouted as I ran up to her, wrapping her in hug. Unlike my dreams, I could actually feel her somehow. I could actually feel the fabric of her shirt and she didn't seem twisted like my dreams portrayed her. Is she actually here, alive?

"Seiko? You're..." her voice was soft, igniting memories of previous years within my mind, bringing a smile to my face. Though, when I looked up, Luo didn't smile. She was only shocked. Is something wrong? "No...no no no...you can't be here already!"

 _What_? I looked at my sister, bewildered. What does she mean? "What? I don't understand what you mean."

"Seiko...you are aware that you are dead...right?" she asked, causing me to freeze in place. No...that touch from Lloyd couldn't have been fatal...it couldn't have! I'm sure I'm fine. Maybe this is truly a dream. It has to be. It must be.

"Prove it then. Show me that I'm dead," I requested. My sister sighed, and then looked at me.

"You knew Lloyd was aiming to drain Alex of his life energy. Lloyd had his eyes closed when Alex threw you into his place, and Lloyd didn't have enough time to stop his powers," she explained, "Besides, if this was a dream, you wouldn't be able to touch me and I would have said nothing about this. I would have most likely said something related to my death or I would have said something from one of your memories with me."

She had a point. A point that had convinced me well enough. I am dead, and Lloyd & Alex may be the only ones who know. Tears prickled in my eyes at the thought of my friends' reactions to my death. At Lloyd's reaction to my death. Does he blame himself? Is he crying?

"Right now, you're in the realm between reincarnation and the abyss. The realm where souls stay until they choose to depart to where they are supposed to go. You can't see them, but there are many people around us right now. All of them are souls like me who are either waiting for family or just not ready," Luo went on, looking around at the blankness of this room, "Though, if they stay too long and have a reasonable link to the mortal realm, they can return to the mortal realm through the Cursed Realm as a ghost."

 _That must be how Morro became a ghost,_ I thought to myself. What's Cole's case then? Did he go through that whole process within a second?

"As for you, Lloyd either needs to restore your life energy, or I have to find some way to take you back to the mortal realm. Your time was not up. You still have _many_ more lives to change before it's your time," she continued, smiling at me. I was confused. I have a time limit? How does Luo know all this? And what does she mean I have lives to change?

"Wait...how do you know all this?" I asked her.

"You learn a thing or two when conversing with people, and I'm allowed to watch over my family while a soul. I pretty much know Mom, Dad, and your little secrets now," she smiled, before bending down to whisper in my ear "Just confess to that guy already! It'll be so much easier on you! You two are basically big dorks anyway!"

I blushed slightly, sighing. "I'll do that when I get to it, sis...but what do you mean I have lives to change?"

"Your existence has a certain impact on every person you meet's lives, whether it be small or big. Either way, your existence is vital to the shaping of everyone you meet's lives, even if it was just that you picked up a dropped item for them. You exist somewhere in their life whether it be good or bad," Luo explained, "You still have many more lives to impact. You cannot die just yet. I don't care what the Cloud Kingdom decided."

I could feel myself smiling. I impact others' lives? Does that mean I impact my friends' lives majorly?

"How will I get back?" I asked my sister. She closed her eyes and took a breath, then kneeled down in front of me.

"You will not have to worry about that. All I have left to say is, be good to strangers and leave a good impact on the lives of most strangers you meet...and please, call Mom every chance you get. I love you, please take care," she smiled as I slowly felt myself fading away.

"Wait! I have so many more que-" I never got to finish my sentence. I blacked out before I could even see Luo's reaction, remembering nothing else after that.


	21. Chapter 21

_Ninjago City, Alex's Building, 10:01 pm_

"D-Did it work?" I though I heard Lloyd's voice whisper quietly. Am I alive? Is this just an illusion made to make me believe I'm actually returning to them? What is even true anymore? I struggled to open my eyes, only opening slightly before closing them again.

"I think her eyes just fluttered..." I heard Cass's voice. She and Cole must have run into Lloyd after the incident...

I tried open my eyes again, successfully opening them. I could see Cass's face to my left, a glimpse of Cole's, and Lloyd's face on my right. Lloyd looked as though he had been crying, and Cass looked worried. I couldn't see Cole's expression.

"She's awake..." Cass gasped, then broke out into a smile, "You did it Lloyd!"

A small, relieved smile came to the boy's face as he pulled me into a hug. I could feel Cass and even Cole joining in on it too, making it a huge group hug. I had to admit, I really felt like I was home again. And I was. I just wasn't in the right building.

Even after Cass and Cole let go, Lloyd was still hugging me. Geez, he must have _really_ missed me, but it feels like he's crushing my ribs.

"It's good to see you too...Lloyd," I said quietly, patting his back. He slowly let go, sitting back. His eyes were watering, as though he were about to cry, yet he looked so relieved and happy.

"I'm sorry...I just really thought I...we had lost you forever," Lloyd tried smile again, but it fell into a frown, and the tears that were being held back actually began to fall. "I-I'm really sorry! I...I closed my eyes when fighting Alex and I...I...I didn't mean to! I-".

"Lloyd," I interrupted him, "It's alright. I know it was an accident. Everything's okay."

I wrapped him in another hug, listening to the few sniffles he made. Now that I think about it, what happened to me could have reminded him of his father's death. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that Sensei Garmadon passed, leaving Lloyd and his mother forever. Was Lloyd afraid of losing me forever, too? Did this even trigger memories of Sensei Garmadon's death? I mean, something like this may have brought back memories of Luo's death to me, but I wondered if it was the same with him, except with Sensei Garmadon instead.

"Awww," a voice behind me caused me to snap out of my thoughts, making me let go of Lloyd. I turned to see Jay walking up, smiling like a mother spying on her daughter's first date. "How adorable!"

I broke into a small blush and stood up, helping Lloyd up as well. "Jay? Aren't you supposed to be with Zane?"

"We kinda got separated...that teleporting dingus screwed around with us then ran off. Zane followed him and I just couldn't keep up. Good thing I found you guys though," he shrugged, looking down the hallway. But isn't Jay one of the fastest runners on our team? Well, he could be having an off day...

"Huh, Alex must be trying to separate everyone then," Lloyd observed, to which Cole nodded.

"That could be his plan. He can't take us all on by himself, so he's separating us all so he can eliminate us all one by one. If he still believes Karma is dead, he could have a major confidence boost right now, and if he is like Kai when it comes to confidence, he could become reckless. We could still stop him if we can get his confidence to cloud his thoughts," the ghastly ninja rubbed his chin. Cass raised her eyebrows in surprise, as did I.

"You must have some serious strategy knowledge or something, Cole," Cass commented, to which Cole shrugged.

"I guess you could say that. It's more like thinking like the enemy. What would I do if I was a small guy with the ability to teleport at will? Where would I hide? How would I eliminate those who oppose me?" the earth ninja replied. I had to admit, that was a great strategy. Think like the enemy. I'm surprised I've never done it before.

"No wonder the guys say that you bring books to battles sometimes..." Lloyd smiled. Cole shrugged yet again, smiling.

"Just because I'm all muscular and stuff doesn't mean I don't have a brain," he said.

Jay yawned loudly, catching everyone's attention.

"Hey, can we get back to our current situation? I kinda was supposed to go on a date with Nya tonight and I at least wanna get close to that," the master of lightning claimed, to which I raised an eyebrow. Since when were they back together!? Cole narrowed his eyes and stepped towards Jay. He pulled his scythe from it's holder on his back and pointed the blade at Jay's throat, making the lightning ninja jump back in shock.

"What the hell bro!?" he exclaimed, glancing at Cole with an expression mixed with panic and anger. The master of earth continued to point his scythe at Jay.

"You're not Jay," he claimed firmly, his expression serious. The master of lightning gave a confused look.

"What do you mean!?" he questioned. I looked to Cass and Lloyd, seeing if they had any reactions, only to see that they were just as concerned as me.

"During missions, Jay would never rush us. Sure, he would complain and freak out, but he'd never do what you did. Just to add, Jay is one of the fastest runners on our team. I've seen him run. He can keep up with Zane and more than likely keep up with Alex," Cole explained, "Besides, Nya would have mentioned something if he really had a date tonight with her."

"Jay" looked surprised at first, then broke into a laugh, a more relieved one if you ask me.

"Ah, fantastic job Sherlock, you caught me," he smirked, his hair, skin, and eyes transforming, just like how Bizarro Kai's did. Though, this time, a pair of sunglasses appeared on Bizarro Jay's head before sliding down over his eyes. So, Alex really does have more than one Bizarro. Though, now that I think about it, could this guy have been the owner of powers similar to Jay's that the blue ninja sensed? I couldn't tell.

Cole didn't even flinch or show a reaction at the transformation like the rest of us did. Instead, he continued to point his scythe's blade firmly at the clone's throat, his bushy eyebrows pointed down, making him look angry.

I saw Cass pull out her kusarigama in a flash, standing by Cole, ready to fight. I took my staff from my belt and extended it into it's active stage, standing at Cole's other side. The clone lightly pushed his shades down the bridge of his nose with a finger, licking his lips like a hungry man looking at his huge 7 course dinner.

"Ah, feisty already I see?" he smirked, "I like them feisty."

I glared at him. Gosh, he must be the same kind of scum as Bizarro Kai. At least Bizarro Kai had better acting skills though. Everything was silent and at a standstill, until Bizarro Jay placed a hand on Cole's scythe, sending an electric shock through it.

 _Same time, same place_

Zane walked quickly down the hallway, checking his surroundings every five seconds. He's been searching for where Alex has been keeping Pixal. So far, he's been unsuccessful, and so has Jay, their only clue being the various channels of electricity Jay could feel throughout the building.

"Zane...I'm having that feeling again..." the master of lightning informed him as he ran to catch up with him. Zane looked at him, concerned.

"Which feeling?"

"Remember the one I had in the forest that I told you all about?" Jay asked, to which Zane nodded. "That one."

"That same person you sensed in the forest might be here. They could be a colleague of Alex," the nindroid claimed as they entered a large room. It was littered with assorted papers and a few tables. A laptop sat on one of the tables, displaying a wallpaper with various pictures of serious looking hooded men. On the wall to the laptop's left sat discarded metal pieces, leaving Zane curious. Before he could go examine the parts, Jay grabbed his shoulder, pointing to the wall across from the parts. Zane eyes widened in shock as his eyes fell upon what Jay was pointing at.

Four mechs stood there, painted a shiny black. They were as tall as Zane's mech, maybe even taller, and looked to be completed. Shadows hid parts of them, hiding any possible guns or weapons from view. The nindroid was shocked. Was this what they kidnapped Pixal for?

"Beautiful, aren't they?" a woman's voice chuckled from behind them. Both Zane and Jay turned around to see a woman with long auburn hair. She wore a lacy, short, cream-colored dress and silver heels. A golden bracelet wrapped around her left wrist and her lips were painted a deep crimson. Zane was confused on why she was so dressed up. _If she is supposed to fight us, why is she wearing heels? You could easily break or sprain your ankle fighting in heels,_ the nindroid thought to himself.

"Where is Pixal!?" the android questioned the woman, believing that she had to be one of Alex's colleagues. The woman chuckled and reached into the torso of her dress. She then produced a bright white flash drive. Zane's eyes widened.

"Is this the thing you're looking for?" she smirked. Zane stepped forward.

"Give her back!" he demanded. The woman gave a fake surprised look, then smirked again.

"And you'd think a robot would have manners. Looks like you didn't program him correctly, blue ninja," she made a fake sigh, offending the nindroid.

"Lady, I think you're the one who doesn't have manners!" Jay replied in a shout, defending his nindroid friend, "Now give him his companion back!"

The woman placed a hand on her chest, scoffing. "None of the men on this Earth have manners," she pouted, before producing two silver sickles from her back. Jay immediately pulled out his nunchucks and held them at the ready as Zane took his sais from his belt. He armed his system, extra metal plating sliding over the exposed wires in his neck and the wires beneath his titanium skin.

"Such a shame, I thought you two would be wonderful young men. Oh well, it's too bad. _Au revoir, garçons,"_ she spoke softly before breaking into a dash towards them. Zane braced himself for the fight, moving into a defensive stance with his sais. _If this is the way I have to take to get Pixal back, so be it._

 _Same time, Same place_

Hunter hummed as he and Lilly entered the building through the door they were instructed to use. He looked around at the hallway they had just entered, surprised at how clean it was.

"Huh, you'd think Debbie would make the place look abandoned. Guess not," he observed. Lilly shrugged, pulling some kind of high-tech mask from one of the pouches on her belt.

"He's probably a clean freak or something," she assumed, putting on the mask. Hunter stared at it.

"What's that thing?" he asked.

"It's a mask I used to wear when I separated from the team. It can detect elemental energy and used to give me night vision...up until Kai cut it off my face one night about a year ago," she informed him, "Now the eyes cannot glow and I can't access night vision. At least I managed to fix the rest of it though."

"Must have been some intense training," Hunter raised his eyebrows in response. Lilly snorted.

"Ha, yeah, _training_ ," she responded, recalling that very night. When Karma didn't even know how to use her powers. When she acted like she disliked Kai. The time when she knew so much less than she did now. The time when Anthony wasn't just some guy high off dry erase markers...actually, he was always that way.

"So, Hunter, what's your story?" she asked the orange ninja, catching his attention. He scratched his chin, trying to recall everything.

"Well, I grew up in the same village as Cass. Nathan and I became orphans at a young age...and we technically survived on our own like Kai and Nya did. Up until Cole met us and started training us to be elemental masters. That's about it," he told her as she scanned the area.

"Huh, a lot of us have dead parents then," Lilly observed, sighing. Hunter raised an eyebrow.

"But aren't both of your parents alive?" the male master of wind questioned. Lilly didn't react.

"My mom is dead," she stated simply.

"But-" Before Hunter could say anymore, Lilly stopped and said firmly, "My mother is dead."

Hunter paused for a moment, then nodded, understanding what she meant. Though, he couldn't help but wonder what her mother did to her to make her act this way towards the mention of her.

Lilly began to take a step, but then froze, holding a hand up to stop Hunter from proceeding. She stayed frozen for a solid three seconds then pulled her katana from it's sheath, swinging towards a wall. Before the blade reached the wall, it paused, centimeters from Alex's throat. The master of psion gasped, realizing how close the blade was.

"Ho...holy shit. You're fast. How did you know where I was going to appear?" he panted, his lips curved in a panicked smile.

"Your elemental energy appears before you do. Keep that in mind," she stated simply. Alex gave a nervous smile, moving his hands towards each other, hoping she wouldn't see. It was already too late though.

"Hunter! His hands!" she shouted, to which Hunter ran over immediately, pulling Alex's arm away from his body. The master of psion cursed, still showing a nervous smile.

"Well," he sighed, still looking panicked, "I guess you got me..."

Lilly smirked, still holding the blade at his throat as Hunter muttered "I'm still gonna spin kick you to the sun." Suddenly, Alex's panicked look evolved into a determined one, his lips curved into a smirk.

"NOT!" he shouted as Lilly's katana freed itself from her grasp and flung itself into the wall. He then kicked her to the ground and used the arm being held by Hunter to grab the wall, swinging his knee into the orange ninja's face. Alex tumbled back to his feet once he was freed from Hunter's grasp, chuckling as the two got up.

"How the hell!? What the crap happened to my katana!?" Lilly exclaimed, running to pick it up. Alex smirked.

"Haven't you idiots ever looked up the definition of psion?" he questioned, then paused for a brief period before speaking. "Here, let me save you two imbeciles the trouble. The name of my elemental power is short for 'psionic', which means my powers are related to the paranormal and psychic, allowing me to use teleportation and telekinesis. In other words..."

A glint of pink shined in his navy blue eyes as both Lilly and Hunter's weapons floated to Alex, as well as a number of sharp objects from other rooms within the hallway. They floated above his head, pointed at the two. A villainous smile came to the master of psion's face as Lilly and Hunter stared at the blades, shocked.

"...you both are about to die."


	22. Chapter 22

_Ninjago City, Alex's Building, 10:15 pm_

Electricity traveled through the metal of the scythe, reaching the ghastly ninja, who raised an eyebrow.

"You do realize I'm a ghost?" he asked as the Bizarro ninja stared at him. A smirk appeared on the clone's face. This can't be good. He must have something up his sleeve.

"Oh, I wasn't aiming for you," Bizarro Jay chuckled sinisterly as lightning shot from the butt end of the scythe's handle. It phased through the earth ninja and hit Lloyd instead, causing me to be instantly alarmed.

"Lloyd! Are you okay!?" I asked as the master of energy twitched repeatedly from the shock. He gave thumbs up, forcing a smile as he tried to recover from the electrocution. I continued to be concerned.

"Are you sure?" I asked. He nodded.

"C-Cass and-d Cole ar-re already fi-ighting. J-just go. I'll be o-okay," Lloyd insisted. I hesitated a moment, then nodded, turning and joining my friends in battle. I slid next to Cass, who had caught Bizarro Jay's hands with the chain of her kusarigama. She pulled him towards her in a flash, pointing the crescent-shaped blade towards where she believed his chest would land. The clone instead slipped his hands out of the chains once he was close enough, kicking the female master of wind in the face and using her head as a jump boost. I dashed after him, throwing my staff as though it were a spear. I smiled as I watched the end of my staff fly towards his head, but my smile quickly faded when he turned around and caught it.

"Nice try, doll, but this isn't a spear," he smirked before throwing it back in my direction, exactly like how I threw it. I bent backwards as it flew past my face and clattered onto the floor. As I proceeded to stand up straight again, Bizarro Jay was knocked onto the floor by Lloyd, who had used an energy orb.

"Karma! Hit the lights!" the green ninja commanded, pointing at me. I nodded, snapping and letting darkness cloud the room, blocking out all light.

"Cole! Sushi!" I heard Lloyd command again. Though these were entirely new commands, I could understand what he meant. He didn't really have time to go over the commands with us anyway. Though, to be honest, I thought it would have been Cole doing the commanding.

After hearing three swishes of a blade, I cleared the room of darkness, revealing the clone of Jay with black steam pouring from his midsection and arms. He looked unimpressed through.

"Always ruinin' the fun, aren't ya, Lloyd? Funny how you search for fun and joy in life but you never seem to give it," the clone stared up at him, smiling. I narrowed my eyes and walked over to the Bizarro ninja, jabbing his midsection with my staff.

"That's enough out of you," I said as I watched the top section of his body slide off the lower one and disappear into black steam. The lower section proceeded to do the same, the steam beginning to give off the smell of ammonia. I pinched my nose in response to the scent, quickly moving out of the room with the others. Once safely in a separate room, I looked over at Lloyd.

"Hey, don't think about a word that stupid clone said, okay? He's just trying to hurt you with lies," I told him as he looked back at me, his red and green eyes showing hints of doubt. He nodded.

"Yeah, that clone was full of crap," Cass added, looking at him as well, "but god, that stunk."

"Yeah...Kai's clone didn't emit a smell like that though," I recalled, cringing when I remembered the smell Jay's clone made. Cole rubbed his chin.

"Odd. You think they were made with different materials or something?" the master of earth asked. I nodded.

"Maybe. That could explain why Jay's clone had elemental abilities and Kai's didn't," I said, "But I'm not a pro at clone-making...or biology, so...who knows."

"You could be ri-" Before Cass could finish, we heard someone approaching quickly. We all turned to see Nya running up, a panicked look on her face.

"Nya? What's wrong?" Cass asked as the female master of water approached. Nya paused to catch her breath before speaking again.

"You guys need to see this..." she panted, beginning to run back the way she came. Before she could move any farther though, a rumble shook the building, causing us all to stumble.

"I don't recall there ever being fault lines by the City!" I exclaimed, placing a hand on the wall to keep my balance. The fault lines were usually up by the mountainous areas of the country, but the earthquakes were usually small and not as serious as this.

"Karma...this isn't an earthquake," Nya informed me as she continued to try to go the other way as the building shook, "It's something else."

Just from what Nya said, I drew a conclusion. If it's not an earthquake, there's only one other explanation. Alex must have built some thing and it's being used right now. It wasn't some sort of small thing either.

Great.

 _Earlier_

The blades flew towards the two ninja as Alex smiled. Hunter had to think of something fast, but what? He didn't have his katana, and it was guaranteed that if he moved he would become human sushi. He knew Lilly was in the same boat, and knew that her powers wouldn't stop the blades at all. What about his powers though? Would they stop the blades?

He decided to try it, moving forward and unleashing very strong gusts of wind. He began to feel a sense of hope and victory as he watched the blades begin to fly away. _Ha! Take that, Debbie! There's no way I'm dying today!_ Hunter thought with pride, smiling. His smile faded though when the blades fought back, resisting the gusts.

"Come on now, Windy, I'm not that weak!" Alex claimed with pride. Hunter narrowed his eyes, strengthening the gusts of wind and making them as large as he could handle. It should have been enough to blow away an adult man, but Alex still stood his ground, the blades still cutting through the wind. The orange ninja gritted his teeth beneath his mask, trying to make the gusts stronger, but he couldn't. _I'd either exhaust myself or lose control of the gust if I tried any harder. Lilly's gonna have to find a way to stop this bozo before the blades get to us,_ Hunter thought to himself. He turned to Lilly, shouting over the wind, "Find a way to stop this guy! I don't know how long I can hold him!"

Lilly nodded, trying to think fast. She surely couldn't use water, since the blades were cutting through the wind. Running up to Alex wouldn't be the smartest idea, considering the endless possibilities of how that would end. She didn't want to risk that. There really was only one option left for her, but she didn't want to do it. _It would only make me look more and more like I'm trying to take away a special uniqueness from my friends. It's enough that Nya, Nathan, and I's powers are identical. I don't want to take away from someone else..._ she thought. It was the main reason why she never used this second power, despite some desperate times calling for it. She didn't really have a choice this time though. She either uses it, or she and Hunter die right here. _Fine, I'll do it._

"Hunter, I'm going to do something, but you have to promise not to tell anyone about it!" Lilly shouted over the wind.

"What!?" Hunter shouted back. Lilly sighed.

"Just don't tell anyone about what I'm about to do!" she shouted louder, before turning back to Alex. _The chemicals used to make the crystal shard have water abilities may have erased most of it's old ability, but I am still able to use it. I just have to think calm thoughts,_ she thought to herself as she took a deep breath. After exhaling, she held her breath. _I haven't used it since my days with Xavier and Yami. I wonder if it still works._ She exhaled again, then thrust her scarred hand forward, clamping her eyes shut as she felt the frigid wind exit her hand. She had done it. It still works.

Once the feeling of the cold wind disappeared, she straightened herself and opened her eyes, revealing both the blades and Alex trapped in ice. Lilly looked over at Hunter, who's eyes were wide in shock.

"Ho...ho...HOLY CRAP! You can do that!?" he questioned, pointing at the ice, "Sweet!"

Lilly sighed. "Yeah, but keep this a secret, okay? I don't want anyone to know."

"But why!? This could be so useful! Especially when the team is split! We won't need two Zane's!" Hunter exclaimed. The blonde looked at the floor, then back up to him.

"Just don't. Please. I've already taken away the uniqueness that Nya and Nathan had. I don't want to take away from Zane too," she replied.

"But Lilly, you're not taking away anything from anyone!" Hunter said, but she held her hand up.

"Just...please. If I choose to tell them, I'll tell them myself. Just keep it a secret, okay?" she said. Hunter hesitated a moment, then nodded.

"Alright...I will."

Just then, a door broke down, with Kai and Nathan falling on top of each other. They remained like that for a brief moment before Nathan jumped up, screaming "MY EYE! MY EYE!". He then ran in a circle for about ten seconds before running into the case of ice Alex was trapped in and falling onto the floor.

"Are they drunk?" Hunter questioned. Lilly shook her head.

"No, they're just idiots," she said as she walked over to Kai, who was still laying face-down on the floor. She kneeled down next to him, shaking his shoulder. "I thought you guys were supposed to be on the other side of the building."

"We were...until we got chased by flying swords," Kai informed her as he got up. He then shivered and wrapped his arms around Lilly, as though she were a walking furnace. "God, it's cold in here. What'd you guys do?"

"Eh...we were fighting Debbie and then Zane came by and froze him. Dunno where he went though," Hunter partly lied, not revealing what actually happened. Kai believed it though.

"Ha, no wonder it's so cold in here. That guy's more chilly than the freakin' Alps," the master of fire shivered from the cold again.

"Yeah...aren't you supposed to be hotter than everyone else though?" Lilly asked. A suave smile came to Kai's face.

"Why of course! I am, after all, the sexiest man alive," he claimed as he ran a hand through his spiked hair. Lilly looked the other way, her cheeks becoming a shade of red.

"I meant your body temperature, bozo. The others say you're like a walking heater in the wintertime," she crossed her arms. The master of fire shrugged.

"I guess, but it doesn't stop me from being cold," he said. Lilly sighed. Just then, Nathan got up, hurrying over to his brother. He gripped onto his brother's gi.

"Have you seen Sammie!?" he questioned, to which Hunter shook his head.

"No, but I'm sure she's fine," he assured him. Nathan still looked panicked.

"I don't trust that eyepatched piece of toilet paper that she's with. He's too shady," the male master of water said. Hunter sighed.

"If he pulls anything I'm sure she can hold her own, Nathan," he attempted to reassure his brother again.

"Yeah, but I feel like he's pulling us all into a trap," Nathan looked at the floor. Hunter patted his back.

"I'm sure we'll be fine," he said, "Besides, what could happen? We have Alex trapped in the ice over there. He's no threat."

"Um, he's not in the ice," Kai notified everyone, causing them to be alarmed.

"What!?" Lilly exclaimed, rushing over to the ice. Surely enough, there was a hole in the back, and no sign of the master of psionics. Her hands curled into fists.

"Why that little-!" she began to shout, but the building began to shake, causing her to almost lose her balance.

"What the heck is going on!?" Nathan exclaimed as he held onto both his brother and a wall.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Kai claimed as he began moving down the hallway. The other three followed closely behind him, alert for any sign of Alex.

 _Earlier_

 _Shing. Ping. Shing._ Zane listened to the sound of he and woman's blades clashing as he tried to spot her weaknesses. It was hard to, though. She had to have known that he would try to spot her weaknesses, so that's why he can't find them, she's hiding them. The nindroid couldn't be sure though. He _has_ had opponents before whose weaknesses he couldn't spot. She must be another one of them.

After a few more swings, Jay stepped in, his nunchuks moving at lightning speed. Within the first minute, he managed to knock her sickles from her hands and electrocute her. It didn't stop her though. She simply got up like it was nothing.

" _Trés bien_ , but it will take more to stop me," she smiled as she lifted up a part of her dress, revealing a rapier in it's sheath. She immediately pulled it from it's sheath, pointing it towards them. "I am, after all, the greatest swordswoman in Ninjago."

Zane could recognize this woman now without scanning her. _Marléne Chaput, age 30, holds multiple records for various fencing and swordplay competitions, one of the most wanted criminals in Ninjago._ Another story of fame turning someone rogue. It seemed to happen to nearly all famous people in Ninjago City. Zane hoped that he and his friends wouldn't fall into the same fate in the future.

 _"En garde_ ," Marléne spoke, before dashing forward towards Jay. Her thrusts and jabs with the sword were quick and smooth, making it hard for Jay to block each jab. Zane stepped in to save his friend though, freezing her legs and arm. The swordswoman smiled.

"Clever, but not enough," she claimed as she broke her legs free. She smashed the ice on her arm before pointing the rapier's tip at the nindroid's eye. Before she could proceed any farther though, a blinding light filled the room, blinding everyone except Zane. The android looked around for it's source, then watched some sort of rope wrap itself around Marléne. The light then disappeared, revealing Sammie and Ronin on the other side of the room. The rogue samurai and the master of light walked up, both taking a look at the tied up swordswoman on the floor. Ronin snorted.

" 'Greatest swordswoman in Ninjago' my ass," he said in response to her earlier statement. She glared at him.

"At least I'm not some lowlife who steals money from innocent women after supposedly 'dating' them," she shot back. Ronin looked offended.

"Hey! I do that to guys too! And a man's gotta find a way to get money y'know!" he defended himself. Sammie rolled her eyes and walked over to Zane and Jay.

"Are you two okay?" she asked. Zane nodded.

"I just have a few cuts and scratches, that's all," Jay replied. Sammie smiled.

"Good. I was kind of afraid that she did a lot of damage, but I guess not," she said. Jay smiled.

"Eh, we're tough. Don't worry. That small twig sword can't do much anyway," he claimed, before getting stabbed through the leg with Marléne's rapier. The swordswoman glared up at him as she twisted the blade and Jay screamed in pain. Zane instantly separated the two, freezing Marléne's hands.

"Now, give me Pixal," Zane demanded. The swordswoman smiled with no context, making the nindroid feel slightly nervous. She had to be hiding something.

 _"Elle est pas ici_ ," Marléne spoke, which Zane immediately translated. "She's not here.". _What does she mean!? She just held Pixal's flash drive up minutes ago!_ the nindroid thought to himself, raising an eyebrow. Before he could get any explanation though, Alex appeared in front of them all, smirking.

"Boo," he said simply before grabbing Marléne and disappearing. Ronin pulled out his gun immediately.

"Get back here you slimy bastard! You owe me a mech!" he shouted. Alex appeared again with his colleague on top of one of his smaller mechs with it's top exposing them both. Marléne was now free from the ropes and Alex held Pixal's flash drive. Zane glared at the master of psionics.

"I believe I owe you nothing, Ronin...or should I say, Ragnvald Dorkoff," Alex smiled. Ronin looked both embarrassed and angry.

"Hey! Don't call me that you disgusting brat!" he snapped, making Alex chuckle. Zane watched him press a button, making the mech rise and the building rumble. The other mechs rose as well, powering on immediately.

"Gosh, this is so boring. I'm going to a place that's more fun," Alex yawned, " _Do svidaniya_!"

The mechs broke the wall, walking out of the building and into the City, where a few screams and car horns could be heard. Zane's teammates ran in just then, staring at the hole in the wall with wide eyes.

"What happened here!?" Cass questioned.

"Alex had some mechs and just escaped. He's gotta be heading to the heart of the City or something," Sammie informed her. Ronin stepped forward.

"Well, in that case, why the hell are we just standing around!?" he exclaimed before calling his ship, REX. "Let's go get this kid!"

Zane saw some of the others nod and follow, either summoning their dragons or looking for some other mode of transportation. The nindroid stood back, still lost within his own mind. _What is Alex planning to do with Pixal? What has he used her for!?_

The nindroid ran over to REX, boarding it. Whatever it was, Zane was going to get her back. Though, the thing he feared the most was if she was hacked and changed. The nindroid hoped his companion was alright and still her old self, despite knowing that she was most likely hacked.


	23. Chapter 23

I decided against summoning my dragon and ran over to an abandoned motorbike, finding that it was conveniently powered on. If I had chosen my dragon, it would be been much easier to be seen by Alex. Though my most of my friends have already chosen their dragons, it's not a problem. Just as long as not all of us are seen. We _are_ ninja after all. We're supposed to sneak and hide under the cover of night. We didn't do that too often though.

"What are you doing? You can summon your dragon, can't you?" I heard Lloyd question as I mounted the motorbike. I nodded.

"Yeah, but I can sneak up on the mechs on this. They won't see me coming," I answered, "Besides, I don't feel like riding with Patchy the Drunk Pirate."

Lloyd chuckled at my nickname for Ronin, then walked over. "Mind if I join you then? I can be a sort of lookout while you keep your eyes on the road," he asked, to which I nodded. He mounted the back of it and wrapped his arms around my midsection, causing my heartbeat to speed up. On the outside I was keeping my cool and doing the necessary measures to get the bike going, but on the inside I was squealing like a thousand tween girls at a boy band's concert. God, why is it that just touching can send my heart racing? Am I weak? Or is this normal?

"I'm sorry if the wind makes my scarf smack you or anything..." I said to Lloyd.

"It's fine. I've been hit by worse," he replied, smiling. Being hit by worse isn't really something to be happy about...

"Alright, hang on then," I told him before putting the kickstand on the bike up and speeding down the road. I weaved through the various moving and abandoned cars on the street, following the head of a mech I could see about the buildings. I could feel Lloyd's grip around me tightening, causing my cheeks to get warmer. Ugh, I'm so weak. Anything this guy does with me makes me blush. It looks like it isn't Lilly that's the tomato anymore...it's me.

"He must have ran into something. The mechs are slowing down," Lloyd observed, snapping me out of thoughts. I looked up and surely enough, they were slowing down. Either one of our teammates caught up to them, or they ran into an obstacle. Both happening could be possible.

"We're not that far. We should be able to catch up to them in no time now!" I exclaimed, hope and determination in my voice. Suddenly, though, I could hear large footsteps behind us. I felt a little frightened. Aren't all the mechs ahead of us? "Um, Lloyd, what's that noise?"

There was a short pause before I got a response. "There's one right behind us!" Lloyd shouted, sounding panicked. I immediately sped the bike up, weaving through the various vehicles. It was at it's top speed now, and a little hard to control. I tried my best though as I tried to lose the mech. I could feel anxiety rising inside me though. _What if we're caught? What if we die here? I don't want to die here._

Suddenly, I was spinning. I couldn't control or turn the bike. Crap, the brief period in my thoughts had distracted me and made me lose control. We really are going to die, aren't we? The spinning then stopped and I thrown from the bike. I skidded across the road, the various scratches on my body now stinging like crazy. I got up as quickly as I could, spotting Lloyd a few feet away and running to help him up.

"That was like the time I fell off my bike...except much more painful," the green ninja recalled as I helped him up, looking at our scratches. I sighed.

"We're lucky we didn't get concussions. That's usually what results after a crash with no helmet," I informed him, looking around for the mech. It was nowhere in sight, causing me to panic. _It's hiding. It's gonna kill us. We're so dead. It's waiting for the right time. We're so, so dead. I should have taken my dragon. We wouldn't be stuck here. I took the bike instead though. How stupid am I?_ I cursed at myself within my thoughts, mad that I got us caught in this situation. Ugh, if only I did as the others did and took my dragon. Why didn't I do what the others did!?

"Karma? We should get moving," Lloyd's voice pulled me out of my thoughts, reminding me that I could still change the outcome of this. I nodded, beginning to run in the towards the park in the City, where Zane's old statue is. I could hear Lloyd following behind me as we ran into the park, where my friends waited, as well as the mechs.

"Ah, so I see you rats followed me...I kind of expected that of you guys. You all are kind of like an embarrassing memory. You never go away!" Alex said, sounding frustrated, "Why can't you just let me do what I want for once!? Do you _have_ to ruin everyone's fun!?"

"We know your intentions Alex, and they won't do anything good for anyone but yourself! I, myself, love having fun, but you gotta draw the line somewhere!" Kai replied, stepping forward, "What you consider fun is what the world calls murder and terrorism!"

Alex chuckled, as if Kai had just cracked a joke. "Well, I dunno, those guys who visited your parents' house years ago sure knew how to have fun."

Kai's eyes widened, and I could see him clenching his fists tightly. Alex had just kicked a hornet's nest he never should have kicked. I could already tell what was going to happen. The fact that one of his eyes was twitching made it even worse.

"What...d-did...you.." he spoke quietly at first, before bursting into flames, screaming, "...jUST FUCKING SAY!?"

Alex jumped back in shock, holding onto his colleague. "Jesus Christ! I knew he was the master of fire but god damn! He's like a freaking fireball!" he exclaimed in shock. Ha, you should be scared. After making a comment like that you really expected Kai to be unphased!?

Neither Nya nor Lilly stepped forward to calm the human fireball down. Instead, they just stepped back and revealed their weapons, as did the rest of us. What surprised me the most though, was the appearance of a curved blade next to Alex's throat, and a cloaked figure behind him, holding it.

"If you find the murder of my husband to be fun, you will find these next few moments to be quite entertaining," the figure spoke before pulling off their cloak, revealing a familiar, dark-skinned man with bright orange eyes and hair. Alex smiled upon seeing him and Marléne immediately pointed the blade of the rapier toward the psychic's throat.

"You caught on fast. Tell me, how did you figure it all out?" the master of psionics questioned him, holding a hand up to stop his colleague.

"It was simple. Who's the boy who kept threatening my life, misgendering me, and manipulating my husband to do jobs for him? You. That's who," Yami answered. Alex chuckled.

"Ha...I guess you're right. I will get a kick out of these next few moments...because it is you that's going down!" he exclaimed before revealing his blades and swinging his arms. Yami backflipped away, sheathing his _kaskana_

"Seliel! Now!" he shouted. Just then, a masked person in a silver and teal gi landed with mechanical, bat-like wings on their back. They threw smoke bombs, clouding our enemies' vision. Kai seized the chance, running up the arm of the mech as Seliel picked up Yami and glided to where we stood, landing smoothly. Nya followed her brother, pulling her mask over her head and using mist as jets.

"I didn't know you guys were gonna show up," I told them. Yami smiled.

"Well, there's a lot more of us, they're just waiting to strike," he revealed to me, to which I raised my eyebrows.

"Really?" I asked. He nodded, then gave a two-tone whistle. Out from the shadows of night came several other people, with and without cloaks. I recognized many amongst them, one of which being Skylor. Her orange hood may have been hiding her face, but it was easy to tell who she was, just by the symbol on her crossbow and gi. Other than her, I recognized many more: Seok, Estera, Anthony, the mailman, Lilly's mother, Jay's parents, and the most surprising guests of all...my own parents.

"Mom!? Dad!?" I exclaimed in shock. My father nodded, pumping his shotgun.

"You didn't think we fully retired from battling, did you?" my mother asked. I had to admit, I did, but now my mind has changed, especially when I looked at my mother's attire. She wore her purple robe with the hawk breastplate, her outfit during the Serpentine Wars. She meant business in this fight.

"Not really, considering what I saw Dad do not too long ago," I admitted, recalling the day my Dad kicked Alex's ass. Ah, that's a great memory. My mother smiled and looked over at my father.

"I guess you really did train over at your brother's home then," she said. My father raised an eyebrow.

"What did you think I was doing? Guzzling _sake_ down all day like a bum?" he questioned. My mother laughed and shook her head.

"No, I just knew that Bruce liked to mess around a lot. I feared that you two would never get anything done," she admitted. Suddenly, we heard someone clearing their throat.

"Hey, guys! Reminder we have mechs to take down!" Skylor reminded us from afar. I nodded, turning back to my parents.

"What do you guys say we take this jerkhole down?" I offered. My mother nodded, a determined smile appearing on her face.

"Let's do this then!" she shouted, sprinting off towards the mech like a marathon runner. My father smiled as he watched her run.

"Now there's the woman I fell in love with," he mumbled before running off too, leaving me with myself. I immediately decided to go after Alex, observing the battle as I ran up the mech. I could hear the firing of weapons everywhere and the firing of the mechs' laser cannons. I could already see people dying, scaring me. Alex can't be this powerful. There can't be people dying already. Maybe they're faking. Who knows.

Once I reached the top, Kai and Alex were still their while Nya and Marléne were gone. Blood was pouring from Kai's nose and there various cuts all over his body while Alex sported various burns and a black eye. None of them looked tired from the battle.

"Gonna give up yet!?" Alex questioned, smiling. Kai smirked, wiping his bloody nose on his sleeve.

"Are you kidding? I'm an eternal flame. I never stop burning!" he replied pridefully as his fists ignited into flames. Alex stepped back, stretching his arms, the blades glimmering in the moonlight.

"Very well then," the master of psionics turned his head to one side, a cracking sound coming from his neck before he straightened himself up again. He blinked, his eyes now having a slight pink glow to them now. What is he doing?

"I'm sure your parents would be glad to see you..." Alex spoke quietly, stretching his arms. There was a long pause, then he yelled "IN HELL!"

Various blades suddenly levitated above Alex, their tips pointed towards the master of fire. All of the blades sped through the air towards Kai, causing him to panic. He rolled out of the way, letting the blades pierce the floor, then ran towards Alex. I wanted to step in and help, but I didn't know how. Those blades seemed to be floating everywhere and I didn't know the extent of this power of Alex's. I was afraid I'd be impaled immediately if I stepped in.

Kai ran in a circle, avoiding the blades as they continually flew at him. Alex smirked as though he were a child playing a toy. A child who knew the fate of it's toy.

"Oh, poor Kai. His parents were murdered, he wasn't the Chosen One, his first love ditched him for another girl, his girlfriend is lying to him, and he can't seem to do anything right. How sad. Boohoo," Alex taunted as the master of fire ran.

"Shut up!" Kai yelled, throwing a fireball at him. Alex dodged it immediately, smiling sinisterly.

"What a shame you can't be the _Green Ninja_. You probably wouldn't have been so weak if you were. Too bad it went to some snot-nosed brat, huh?" the master of psionics continued to taunt him. Kai gritted his teeth, looking much more angrier.

"I said SHUT UP!" he screamed as he threw a larger fireball. He almost hit Alex by a hair, but the slimy jerk dodged it. He chuckled.

"Aww, did that mention of the Green Ninja rile you up? Don't be so upset, you could always be a hobo!" he continued to tease. I decided I'd have to step in now before Kai ended up exhausting himself. I jumped from where I was perched, placing my hands on the ground and unleashing the ropes by using the Dark Arts. The intricate lines wrapped themselves around Alex's ankles and legs, holding him in place. He stopped and looked at me, a smile still plastered on his face.

"Oh, if it isn't Shorty. Care to join me in the domination of this City? I'll let your family go unscathed," he offered. I narrowed my eyes and jabbed my staff into his crotch, making him cry out in pain.

"My name's Karma, and no, I'm not interested in your petty blackmail," I said firmly before jabbing him in the stomach, "I know you won't spare anyone except for yourself."

The master of psionics chuckled, smiling. "Ah, you change so quickly. If only I could use that effect for myself."

Before I could do anything, a foot came flying out of nowhere, striking him across the face. I could recognize the purple robe that accompanied it from anywhere.

"My daughter will be changing for no one but herself," my mother stated firmly, placing two hands on her hips. Alex spit out what I believed to be a tooth and looked up, still smiling.

"God, you people don't know how stupid you really are!" he broke free from the ropes as Kai joined us. The blades sped towards us and my mother and Kai scattered. I formed a barrier around myself with the lines, but the blades cut through. I layered the barrier, wrapping thousands upon thousands of lines over each other, strengthening the barrier. The blades still cut through though, causing me to panic. I continued wrapping the lines around faster in hopes to stop the blades, but they only cut through. I was becoming exhausted and drained but my heart was racing. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die!_ I tried to keep wrapping the lines, but I couldn't do it anymore. My attempts to stop the blades were only proving useless. The blades were getting closer and all I could do was close my eyes and wait for them to pierce me, so I could save everyone.

But it never came.


	24. Chapter 24

I opened my eyes when the feeling of piercing never came. Did something happen? I didn't hear the sound of them clattering to the ground. Did...did someone die? I was reluctant to find out, but I looked anyway, and what I saw in front of me paralyzed me.

The purple robe that I had adored was now stained crimson, with blades sticking out here and there. My mother gritted her teeth and used a shadow orb to push Alex away, then turned to look at me, the blades still sticking out in a horrifying way and tears in her eyes. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak.

"I promised on the days that I had you and Luo that I would always protect you two. Even though I couldn't save Luo, I got to save you, so I...fulfilled my promise. Please, take care of your father...I love you," she whispered quietly before collapsing on the floor. I couldn't find the strength to do anything except stand there, denial flooding my mind. _She can't be...no...no no no...I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming right!? I have to be. I have to be! This isn't real! None of this is real!_ I couldn't deny it though, the evidence was right in front of me. I was clearly awake. I was clearly living my nightmare.

I dropped to my knees with my breath shaking. I struggled to speak, but nothing came out. Every inch of me trembled as I stared right at her, my brain trying it's best to deny it all. It was hard to deny though. My mother was dead.

Once I finally thought I was able to say something, all that came out was a loud sob. Tears began spilling from my eyes like a waterfall and I found that I couldn't move again. _I'd never hear her voice again. I'll never feel her hugs again. I'll never...I'll never do anything with her ever again..._ Everything hurt and I paid no attention to my surroundings. I didn't care what came to get me. I just wanted it all to end. I wanted it to be a dream. I wanted everything to be fake! I wanted my life back! I wanted my family back! Luo, Uncle Clouse, my mother, I wanted them all back NOW! Life doesn't work that way though...and that was something I couldn't grasp at that moment in time.

I suddenly started feeling angry though, knowing who caused this all. _Alex. He did this. He killed her. Now he's gonna kill you and Kai next._ I looked up from my mother's body at the return of the master of psionics. At first he looked shocked, but then a victorious smile came to his face. That bastard.

I got up and faced him, glaring at him. He chuckled a little bit. "What's wrong? Poor mommy's got a booboo? How awful. Boohoo," he taunted. I narrowed my eyes. He thinks he can just go around, killing who he wants? No. I'm putting an end to this. _I'm putting an end to it all now!_

A new energy pulsed through me, taking every ounce of anger and hatred and turning it into energy. I could see black, smoky darkness surrounding my hands and feet. I didn't know what was happening, but it felt great! I felt powerful! I felt like I was bigger and stronger! I felt like I could do anything!

"Woah there. I know I've said you're smokin' before...but you're literally smoking right now..." Alex began to look nervous. Good, be nervous, be scared. Regret what you did! I decided to stop waiting then. If I really do wanna make Alex pay for what he's done, I should do it now, before he decides to teleport away like a chicken.

" _Nankai datte...nankai datte_...Again and again you kill people for your own personal enjoyment, believing it spreads your cause and makes you look more powerful. Though, believe me, it doesn't," I spoke, beginning to circle him. The intricate lines from earlier wrapped themselves around his ankles and hands, holding him in place. He began to look more panicked. "All it does is make you look like an animal. Like you should be locked up, chained to the wall, and hunted. It doesn't make you look like genius. It doesn't make you handsomer or higher in class. It makes you uglier."

"Okay...don't lose your chill here..." Alex's voice was just as nervous as his expression. I turned and connected my knee with his face, hearing a crunch come from his nose. He cried out from the pain, trying to reach up and hold his broken nose.

"That's what it felt like when you killed Xavier. Someone I barely knew but still admired like a friend," I circled him. I then proceeded to kick him in the groin and punch him in the face. I didn't stop though. I landed a hit everywhere I could, taking out my anger on him. He was now a human punching bag. Though, just so I could disable his ability to teleport, I turned and broke his hand by bending in the wrong way. I heard him cry out in pain. _Good. Are you regretting what you've done yet?_

"And that's what it felt like when you killed my mother. Need I demonstrate more?" I growled. He didn't answer, only groaned and gritted his teeth from his bruises and broken hand. I released him, letting him fall to the ground. He clutched his hand, whimpering like a puppy, but I didn't want to end it here. I wanted to hurt him more. I wanted him to actually _feel my pain_. I wanted him to feel the loss. The denial. The longing to see them again. All of it.

"Tell me, Alex, _are you afraid of the dark?_ " I asked him, powering up an orb. I'd end it here. I'd be free. I would feel satisfied. My mother's killer would cease to exist, and I would be happy. But would I really be happy?

Before I could end it, I felt someone grab my arms and pull me away. I watched Kai take my place, but he kicked Alex away, casting a glare at him and showing a thumbs-down that only lasted a second. He then turned back to me, his expression still serious. My eyes narrowed. _Why didn't he let me finish him off!?_

"Why'd you pull me away!? I was going to finish him off!" I shouted. Kai sighed, then looked behind me. _Don't ignore me you pea-brained loser!_

"I think she's still in that state. The one Sammie was talking about," he spoke to whoever was behind me calmly, as if he weren't in rage mode minutes ago. _What the hell are they talking about!?_

"Well, let me see," I heard Lilly's voice before she came out from behind me and kneeled down in front of me. She waved a hand in front of me like she was testing if I was blind, then hesitantly poked my arm, looking concerned.

"What the crap is the meaning of this!? I'm fine! Just let me-" Before I could finish, I was slapped across the face. I instantly lost all the energy I had gained earlier as I snapped back into my senses. Gosh, what was I doing? Like, I knew I was angry, but I wasn't up for killing someone! I do hate Alex...but I don't really like killing people. It was enough I was the one who fired the shot that killed Sebastian.

"Huh?" I blinked as Lilly breathed a relieved sigh.

"Okay, it was _the thing_ then. Sammie was right," she told Kai, in which he nodded. I was still confused. What was going on? Did we win?

"Wh...what's going on?" I asked, looking around. I noticed that most of the mechs were gone, except for one. Though, when I looked to my right, my heart shattered to pieces.

My father was kneeling next to my mother, his hair hiding his eyes. I couldn't tell if he was crying or not, but I knew I was. Just recalling the memory was more painful than sticking your foot in a meat grinder. I watched him slowly pull each blade out of her, as each blade pierced me mentally. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

"Sammie said you were having an 'elemental overload'. You know, those things Sammie talked about when she, Cass, and Nya all spent the night in our room not too long ago? Kai doesn't think it was a full one though, since he's had many," Lilly explained to me. My eyes widened. I was having one of _those_!? But it didn't feel like half! It felt like full!

"You didn't use much of your powers, so I assume it to be half," Kai added. I sighed.

"Is it all over though? Did we defeat them?" I asked. Kai immediately shook his head.

"No, the fight is still going on, but I pulled Lilly up here while you were throwing your rage fit. I was kind of concerned on the way you were acting," the master of fire replied, pointing to his right. I looked in that direction to see a bigger mech walking through, with many people fighting it. I was sort of captivated by it, and I got up and walked to the side of the mech, watching them all. It just looked like a big fight scene in a movie, free of any grieving or loss. Only death and people striving for victory. I could see people I knew fighting. I saw Skylor being carried in the air by Seliel as she shot projectiles from her crossbow. Both Cass and Hunter were combining their powers and trying to blow the mech away without blowing anyone out of the air. Sammie was giving Nathan light as he used waves to hit key areas of the mech's feet, while Zane froze waves that Nathan and Nya made. Cole repeatedly threw boulders at the mech's head and neck while Lloyd destroyed what he could with the green orbs of explosive energy he carried. I could see Mrs. Genisis shooting key areas of the mech's head with her sniper rifle, possibly trying to shoot whoever was piloting it. Yamikani tried to slice the mech's hands off as a blonde girl with a pink cheerleader's skirt on used what I believed to be a Gatling gun to tear up the armor of the mech. Jay and the Mailman were both tearing up the armor too. I didn't see Seok, Estera, or Anthony anywhere, nor did I see Jay's parents.

Lilly and Kai joined me at the edge of the mech, watching it all go down.

"You think we should help?" the master fire questioned, before a large explosion sounded from the back of the mech.

"No, I think they have it under con-" Lilly began to say, before the arrival of a high tech tank cut her words off. I don't think it's the vehicle itself that made her stop speaking though. I believe that it was the man standing on top of the tank.

From where I stood, he couldn't look older than forty. The oval-shaped lenses of his wire-frame glasses shined in the moonlight, just like his auburn hair. His clothing made him look like a plain citizen though: A green, plaid overshirt over a white undershirt and beige jeans. He was yelling something to someone sticking their head out of the tank, the head belonging to Jay's mother. I looked over at Lilly, whose eyes were as wide as the full moon shining down upon the City. Does she know this guy?

The tank's cannon then fired, sending a projectile straight into the mech's head. The head exploded and the mech fell, crushing the trees and park benches below. The three of us used Airjitzu to glide down onto the ground, abandoning the smaller mech and joining our friends. I heard Nya breathe a sigh of relief when she saw her brother.

"Did you guys get Alex?" Cole questioned, to which I shook my head.

"We have another loss to add to the total though. I should probably go retrieve Karma's father from the mech," Kai notified them before turning to look at the mech. I held a hand up before he could do anything.

"No. Give him time to mourn and be with her. He needs it," I told him, thinking about my father. He just found his wife dead, of course he's going to need time alone to just hold her one last time. Kai nodded and turned back our friends.

Just then, the blonde girl I saw with the Gatling gun earlier ran up to Nya, tackle-hugging her. Both girls were giggling as most of us looked at the two in confusion. Once Nya noticed our confused looks, she let go of the girl and cleared her throat.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Ashley," she introduced the girl. Both Kai and Jay's jaws dropped down to the ground.

" _Girlfriend_!?"

"A...Aren't you the girl from the slushie place?" Kai questioned, to which Ashley nodded.

"Yeah, and I recall your pickup lines being quite weak. Besides, you were with another girl at the time anyway," she reminded him. Kai gritted his teeth nervously.

"That was a robot! I've already told you that!" he argued. I heard Lilly sigh.

"Well, you got the weak pickup lines correct," she said. Jay still stood there, shocked. I thought I could hear his heart shattering.

As this went on, I watched Zane walk over to a pile of rubble and pick through it, pulling out a dirtied white flash drive a minute later. Looks like he found Pixal. I saw a smile come to a face before brushing off the flash drive and opening the panel on the side of his head, inserting it in it's designated spot. I felt happy for him. He must be so relieved he found her. He seemed worried and scared enough for her safety earlier.

Then, Jay's parents ran up, hugging him as the man that accompanied them walked up, the moonlight revealing his icy blue eyes. He and Lilly's eyes met then, both frozen in shock. The man gasped though, expressing his surprise.

"Lillian?" His voice was soft and uncertain, most likely unsure of who Lilly is. _They really must be related then, but in what way_? The blonde friend was hesitant at first, her slight movements hinting to me that she was unsure, then she ran over and hugged the man, smiling. I could hear her speaking, but couldn't understand it.

" _Moi aussi,"_ I heard the man who I believed to be her father reply. They must be speaking French. It would explain why Lilly is bilingual after all. When he finally let go over her though, they broke into conversation. Though, the presence of us caused her to stop speaking. She paused a moment, then gestured to us.

" _Je vous présente mon amis,"_ she said, " _Nya, Cole, Cassidy, Hunter, Nathan, Karma, Kai, Lloyd, Jay, Zane, et Sammie."_

The man acknowledged us, smiling. _"Enchanté."_

"Um, could you possibly speak English?" Jay spoke up. Kai elbowed him in the ribs.

"Don't be rude, Jay!" he whispered angrily. The man put up his hands.

"It is okay, I can speak English. I just do not know many words," he informed us all. He then nodded to Lilly.

"This is my father, Pierre. He's...nothing like my mother. Just saying that before Porcupine over here freaks out," she informed us. I thought I heard Kai breathe a sigh of relief. I was slowly fading out of the conversation though and falling inside my mind. I kept being reminded that my mother was dead by my own brain and it hurt. I felt as though I was being stabbed. Everyone was having happy endings while I was still here, just escaping the nightmare that had transpired not long ago. I could see our other friends approaching with smiles on their face. Yes, we defeated Alex, but I couldn't smile. I didn't feel victorious. I felt sort of...empty. Like, another piece of me was missing now. I always knew that the phrase 'victory comes at a price' was true but...

I never imagined it would have been like this.

 _ **A/N: Brief heads up before there's any confusion that Ashley is NOT an OC.**_

 _ **If you've ever heard of the background cheerleader from the fandom, that's her. I just gave her a name :D**_


	25. Chapter 25

It's been days since the battle. Days since the defeat of Alex. Days since the death of my mother. I stopped counting after two days, so I can't really tell you how long it's been. All I can tell you is the aftermath.

Amongst the dead were Seok, Estera, Anthony, and other citizens that contributed to the cause. Marléne was piloting the last mech and went down in flames with it. Despite showing up, Lilly's mother, Angelique, never approached us once. I don't even think I saw even a piece of her after the fight. Alex is still on the run. Pierre's going to be staying in the city, and my mother was laid to rest not too long ago.

Since her death, I've rarely spoken to anyone and have kept to myself. I find it hard to get out of bed or even eat. I can't help but cry out of nowhere a few times a day, just by recalling her memory. I have frequent nightmares about her and Luo. It all just...hurts.

Today was just the same as the others. I struggle to get out of bed. I get lost in my thoughts while in the shower. I lock myself in my room, feeling tired already and upset. This time alone should heal me though. It heals my father. Why isn't giving me the same effect?

The sudden opening of a door startled me. Lilly must be coming in to retrieve something. I don't know what she would have forgotten though.

"Karma? Are you awake?" a familiar voice whispered from the door. It was Lloyd. Why is he in here?

"Yes," I answered, still facing the wall by my bed. I heard his footsteps near me, then the sinking of the side of my mattress. He must have sat down.

"Are you doing alright? The others are really worried..." he asked me. I nodded.

"I'm fine. I just need time alone, okay?" I replied. I didn't hear him speak for a solid minute.

"Listen, Karma, I know what it's like to lose a parent. It hurts a lot, I know, but please try to live through the pain. You can't keep locking yourself in like this," he spoke quietly. I hugged myself.

"It's the only way I can heal, okay?" I argued. I heard the Green Ninja sigh.

"No, it's not. You're just hurting yourself even more," he replied calmly. I turned over immediately, staring at him. He looked really concerned.

"I'm. Fine," I claimed firmly. Lloyd placed a hand on my arm, still looking concerned.

"Karma, you haven't eaten in days. I'm worried about you," he admitted. I sighed. Why is he so persistent? I can handle all of this myself, can't I? All of it is hurting, but I can fix this myself, can't I? I don't know. I sat up, facing him.

"I...I've just had a rough time. Between almost dying and losing my mom, I just can't stop hurting. I mean, her death haunts my dreams. It won't leave me alone. It just won't go away," I pulled my knees to my chest. I wanted to change the topic. I hated talking about it.

"I can relate, though I think the nightmares are normal for situations like this," he told me. I rested my head on my knees, sighing.

"I just wish I got some sort of revenge. I wish I had actually killed Alex!" I admitted, looking up from my knees, "Maybe then I wouldn't be so hung up on this. There would actually be justice."

Lloyd frowned. "I don't think that would have done anything. You're experiencing grief right now. It's something everyone gets when stuff like this happens."

"Listen, Lloyd, I know myself. I know what will make me happier. It would have done something," I argued. Lloyd looked at the floor.

"Wanting revenge tends to fall in to one of the categories of stages of grief," he said simply. I scratched at my bedsheets. Why doesn't he understand!?

"It would have done something, Lloyd! I wouldn't be stuck like this if I had just killed him! I would have been satisfi-!" I began to argue, but Lloyd snapped back.

"Killing isn't always the answer! It never is! Trust me, I know how you feel. I felt the same way when my father died!"

I stopped talking. I had made him bring up his father again. _Great job, Seiko, you dragged him into this freakin' pit of sadness and depression too._ I had a tendency to do that, but I never meant to. Oh god...I hope he's not offended that I started making everything about me. God, why am I so insensitive and stupid!?

"I'm sorry," I instantly apologized, looking away. He's probably upset too now. Ugh, sometimes I wish I would just shut up!

"Why are you apologizing?" I heard Lloyd ask, confused. Isn't it obvious!?

"I was making everything about me! I didn't even think about how others felt for even a second! I'm so sorry," I apologized again.

"Karma, it's fine. Again, that's normal. You just experienced a recent tragedy. You're bound to talk about how you feel. It's okay" he reassured me, before looking at the watch on his hand. "Crap, Uncle Wu's gonna be mad. I'm late for training."

He got up, but then gave a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry I have to leave so suddenly, but if you need anything or need to talk to anyone, remember you can talk to anyone here. We're all here for you, Karma."

I gave a tiny smile. I don't how someone that's supposed to be younger than me talks so much like an adult. Though, he made me feel so much better. The sadness may not have been fully gone, but he chased away some of it. It made me wonder why I had ever interpreted him as a little kid a year ago.

Just then, the thing Luo told me to do shot through my head. _Why now though!?_ I thought to myself _, isn't the time right now a little inappropriate, since he's late? And since I'm kind of in a depressed mood?_ My thoughts still pushed it though, saying that I would make Luo happy, and possibly even my mother happy. I agreed upon it then, not understanding why it would make my mother happy, but if she's happy then I'm happy.

"Wait," I said, grabbing Lloyd's hand before he walked out of the room. He turned and looked at me. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while."

"What is it?" he asked, waiting patiently. All I could do was stutter though, too nervous to spit these feelings out and expel all the awkwardness. _What if he says he doesn't feel the same way!? What if I mess up? What if he doesn't understand me?_ I pushed these thoughts down in my head, trying to focus. _Let's just get this over with._

"I...I...I'm a big nerd for you! A-And I don't know if you're the same way for me...s-so maybe we could go out for pizza sometime...n-not in a 'friends' way..." I confessed, stuttering here and there as I felt my cheeks warming. _There, I said it. Happy, Luo?_ I could see Lloyd's cheeks becoming a dark red, to which I panicked internally _. I embarrassed him! I knew this wasn't going to go well..._

"Yes," he broke the silence, surprising me. I blinked.

"What?" I asked, not believing my ears.

"I said yes. I...I've been kind of meaning to say that too," he scratched his head nervously as his cheeks became a darker red. Relief spread through me. _He...he actually does like me! For the first time in my life, a confession goes well!_ "Maybe we could go somewhere tomorrow or maybe after my training?"

I nodded, smiling. My feelings no longer felt trapped. Though, I did think of one awkward thing...

"Eh...and about what I said when you gave me that new staff...I...may or may not have meant it. I-I mean..." I struggled to speak _. God, why am I so nervous!?_ I could see Lloyd smiling though, which relieved me. _Did it come across okay?_ He started approaching me though.

"Well, since you didn't do it..." he spoke quietly before leaning down. _What's going to happen?_ My heart was racing as if it were running a marathon. What's going to-

My thoughts immediately paused when his lips connected with mine, making my heart race like it never had before! My thoughts were a jumble, my cheeks were warm, and I felt as though I might explode! _He actually..._ I couldn't think. I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. I was just too excited.

After a few seconds, Lloyd pulled away, smiling. "I'll see ya after training."

He made a tiny wave then left my room, leaving me frozen and blushing. _Did he really..._ I was screaming in my head like a thousand fangirls. Though, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't imagining anything. It all was unbelievable.

 _He actually said yes_.

Since our battle with Alex, our team has grown rapidly in popularity. We have our faces on billboards and chip bags. We're technically celebrities now...which is okay to me. Though, it's not what I desire.

I just hope our popularity doesn't break us apart or turn us against our morals.

 _ **A/N: THANK YOU for reading the third installment of The Midnight Two! To be honest, this one has been the hardest one to write so far, so let's hope Skybound will be a bit easier!**_

 _ **(P.S: Ninjago Season 6: Skybound us out RIGHT NOW in Asia with English episodes! You can find episodes 55 and 56 on YouTube!)**_

 _ **(Also: I post updates about this fanfic on my Tumblr account [Sapphireloid]. Just a thing to throw out there!)**_


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